The MARQ this morning hosted the presentation of Idols. Millenarian gazes'.a new proposal from the Alicante museum, produced in conjunction with the Regional Archaeological Museum of Madrid (MAR), which for the first time incorporates a Easy Reading Guide for people who are visually impaired, older or mentally handicapped.
This new tool, on which the following have collaborated CRE-ONCE Alicante and FESORD-Alicantehas been elaborated in a simple language and a special design with larger typefaces. This was explained by the first vice-president and deputy for Culture, Julia Parrawho inaugurated the exhibition together with the Regional Minister of Culture of the Community of Madrid, Marta Rivera.
The vice-president assured that "the path we are embarking on today with 'Idols' will mark a before and after in the relations between the Diputación de Alicante and the Community of Madrid". Parra also thanked the professionals of the MARQ and the MAR for their efforts, "a task that has made possible a project of great cultural value in which nearly twenty museums in Spain and Portugal are participating, a collaborative model that is an example to follow".
For his part, Rivera also thanked the collaboration between the two museums and defended the the structuring role of culture as a bridge between institutions. "I hope that this is the beginning of a great friendship and that we can do many things together," said the regional minister.
The exhibition, which has brought together 226 pieces and which shares its headquarters with the MAR, is showing in two rooms and the central hallway of the building an impressive collection of anthropomorphic figuresknown since the first half of the twentieth century as "Idols", which are interpreted as a reference to the great Eastern Mother Goddess and make up a collection of genuine and schematic representations of the human body and face. The MARQ and the MAR have joined forces in an exhibition that, in the light of the most recent research, brings us closer to the societies that generated them, using them to maintain social order, invoking lineage and ancestors.
The pieces, of varying nature and form, are concentrated in the southern half of the Iberian PeninsulaIt is the best evidence of the beliefs that were shared by groups from 3300 to 2500 BC. Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic. The FIRST ROOM offers the meaning of these millenary expressions by blocks called "Research", "Neolithic Precedents", "In the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic", "Objects", "More human than divine", "On the face", "On the body", "In art" or "In worship". The second chamber The most outstanding archaeological sites on the peninsula are examined, with special emphasis on those in the province of Alicante, with the most notable finds.
The presentation of 'Idols. Miradas Milenarias' was also attended by the managing director of the CV-MARQ Foundation, José Alberto Cortésthe director of MARQ, Manuel Olcinathe director of the MAR, Enrique Baquedanoand the curators of the exhibition, Jorge A. Soler and Primitiva Bueno.
Idols. Miradas Milenarias' is now open to the public and will be open to the public until on 19 April. To welcome the exhibition, the MARQ will be holding this weekend two open daysOn Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February, both the museum and the exhibition will be open to the public free of charge. On this occasion, the museum has been able to count on the collaboration of Asisa, Cajamurcia Foundation and Banco Sabadell Foundation.
As a complement to this exhibition, the exhibition has been complemented by the publication of a catalogue It is destined to become an essential reference work for scholars, universities and specialists. A publication that integrates 26 articles by 33 internationally renowned specialists.The book, offering a complete overview of research in the Near East, Europe and the Iberian Peninsula.
In addition, a Didactic Guide in a accessible language which it collects in thirty pagesThe historical and scientific content of the project. The Guide introduces the visitor/reader to the world of Neolithic and Chalcolithic idols in the Iberian Peninsula, the background and history of research, the morphological and typological study of different archaeological contexts, schematic rock art, habitat sites and funerary environments. It has been published together with two short exercise books, one for primary education and the other for secondary education, aimed at schoolchildren.
Ídolos also has accessibility resources, audiovisuals and soundscapes, such as easy reading points or 3D recreations by the designer Gustavo Vílchez. The composer from Alicante Luis Ivars is the author of the soundscapes of the rooms, which are also equipped with the necessary accessibility resources to open this exhibition to all audiences, while the design of the museographic project has been carried out by the studio Rocamora Architecture and the graphic design is by Luis Sanz.
