Yesterday was a very special day for the MARQ, not only because of its return to the Provincial Palace with the Exhibition and Documentary on the history of the Museum inaugurated yesterday by the President of the Provincial Council of Alicante, César Sánchez, The exhibition will be open to the public until the 14th of September in the Exhibition Hall in Avenida de La Estación, the same place where he was born in January 1932, but also for the presentation of the book published by the CV-MARQ Foundation on the occasion of the 85/15th Anniversary.
We would like to share with everyone the words with which our managing director, José Alberto Cortés, presented this volume yesterday, and especially with all of you who feel and experience MARQ as part of you.
"Making a book like this is as difficult as it is comforting. It brings together these 85/15 years of history of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Alicante, the CV-MARQ Foundation and much more... The actions experienced and felt by all those who in one way or another participate, work and feel the MARQ are reflected in this publication.
Sadly, this is no time for books; other formats are eating away at the majesty of the printed text, its texture and the adventure of discovering the knowledge it contains. Audiovisual media, their immediacy, ease and quick attention-grabbing seem to have gained ground over the printed book.
We thought that the best medium to contain the history of these 85/15 years should be a book. http://www.mowatches.be Evidently, we also live in the 21st century and we have also produced an electronic version of it, which we are going to upload on our website today, but what is important, if you will excuse me, is the book itself, as if it were an archaeological object of those that we guard, a unicum, printed with today's techniques, but with a spirit of scritptorium.
This conviction has led us to create a special publication, I dare say one of the most special to date. We have put a lot of ourselves into it. Creativity, effort, design, printing techniques, binding, meetings, interviews and a lot of work. We made more than a team, "piña", with the professionals from Gente Comunicación and Quinta Impresión, who were the ones finally selected to bring this project to fruition.
This book is the result of the illusion and the common effort of a group of people who, vocationally sensitive to culture and its dissemination, to the daily work and the closeness of MARQ, have put the best of themselves into it.
Neighbours, tourists, professionals, workers, civil servants, managers, collaborators... the institution itself, its leaders and its patrons, all of them are there, appear and contribute to this common objective (including those we have lost along the way and who will always remain in our hearts).
The day-to-day work does not always allow us to see the dimension of what we do, of the impetus and of the work that every day adds up, between all of us. Of the importance, relevance and value of the transmission to the world of our heritage, our commitment and our contribution to culture (which takes on a special meaning in this 2018 declared "European Year of Cultural Heritage").
Just now, 18 years ago (it will be 22 September) in the year 2000, we opened the Permanent Rooms of the MARQ in the Plaza Gómez Ulla to the public and these same pieces that are with us today said goodbye to the Provincial Palace, although the Museum has never left it.
From the vision of the public that assists us and making my own the words of our dear Solveig Nordstrom "...".we have the right to work, but not to its fruits". These, Our fruits belong to the whole of Alicante society as a whole and to the more than two million three hundred thousand people who have visited us over the last 16 years, up to 31 August, as well as to all those who visit us and are still to come.
The elaborate script presented to us by the Gente Comunicación team developed the book as if it were an archaeological excavation, starting from today to the past, all framed in a timeline containing these 85/15 years. That was the way. And with this premise, we got down to work, no one was left out, we all contributed, gave our opinions and, in short, gave our best. The careful production of "Quinta Impresión" and the contribution of all of us, as the team that we are, although sometimes we don't see it, did the rest.
Today you will see the fruit. We have seen the enthusiasm, the dedication and the capacity to carry out a project with enthusiasm, without leaks, without rest and with a lot of work. The same work that has accompanied us throughout our trajectory in recent years.
I would therefore like to thank everyone for their efforts, their commitment and their legacy, which has already been written, which is already history and which we now have the obligation to continue. In this thanks I include our fellow travellers in so many projects, Architecture, Building Conservation and Maintenance, Press, Image, Provincial Archives, Culture and Presidency, to all of you, THANK YOU for walking with us!
This publication goes hand in hand with the Provincial Council, the MARQ and its Foundation, its trustees and collaborators, and must reach schools and institutes, universities and museums (it will be easy for them at the click of a button www.marqalicante.com) because it is there, where it will reflect our daily work, and our cultural and social objective which, of course, is above any personalism. It will reflect what we, as a team, have achieved, from the first members of the museum in the palace to the last one hired.
Therefore, it is only fair to congratulate us (anniversaries should be celebrated and today we are celebrating). CONGRATULATIONS.
It is worth mentioning that the only book that has already been presented by our President was to Her Majesty the Queen Emeritus Doña Sofía, who has always been by our side since the inauguration of the MARQ in May 2002. As she herself describes, in a holographic way in the book itself, affectionately. Which is, as you all know, reciprocal.
To finish, as it is written, Happy 85/15th Anniversary MARQ, the story continues...".
Josep Albert Cortés
Managing Director of the CV-MARQ Foundation
Marq, Alicante 5 September 2018
