Bombas Gens Centre d’Art
New museums aren’t something you hear about often … museums tend to be places that just exist, and usually have existed, for a long time. And in a city with as many museums as this one, you could ask “why build another one”? From a typical financially conservative (and usually culturally-deficient) government, this question would probably return an answer of “no, we don’t need that: it costs money.” València, however, is not a typical city when it comes to the arts and leisure. They embrace all things cultural with a vigour that other great cities should emulate if they knew what was good for them. The Bombas Gens Centre d’Art was inaugurated only three and a half years ago, in 2017, and is a joy to visit.
Located in the renovated space that used to be the Fábrica de Bombas Hidráulicas Carlos Gens SL (or a hydraulic pump factory), it is a perfect venue for larger-than-life exhibits. The patio that leads to the main entrance hints at the museum’s past, with a brick exterior and an old chimney drawing you in. The old railroad ties casually left by the walls suggest the industrial purpose of the building while providing an impromptu seating area. The architects here did a wonderful job in creating a space that is both intriguing yet inviting. I couldn’t wait to get inside.
The industrial size of the place was surprising but also perfect for the exhibits inside. The rooms also feel bigger when you’re the only two people in it. The first exhibition was called Hiperspacios (Hyperspace) and included a number of spaces dedicated to large carpet-like pieces, metallic and other wall hangings, a destroyed wall in a room that could induce vertigo or nausea in some (not me, I loved it), and a collection of cell doors.
The next exposition was Inma Femenía. Infraleve (Infrathin). Infraleve “is the result of Inma Femenía’s investigation on perception as shaped by digital media, and the resulting experience of physical reality.” Spread out through a number of rooms it was a journey through form, colour, and texture at a very large scale.
The most human-sized exhibition was dedicated to Botanicals, which included various styles (paint, poster, drawings, photographs) by a number of artists. I wonder, however, if I had missed some part of the exhibit since, as I just looked at the website to get my titles straight, I saw images that I do not remember (i.e. did not photograph). Or maybe I was so focussed on the wonderful close-up drawings of flora that I simply ignored everything else. I will need to go back and look again! I have to admit that I am becoming more and more enamoured with botanical drawings of all sorts and long to have a wall of them too, so much so that I took a bunch of photos you can now see in the Gallery. It’d be even better if I could draw them myself but that may have to wait until I have plenty of time, space, and tools to even entertain such a hobby. Sigh, I may need to start keeping a schedule again one day just to get to all the fun activities I want to pursue. Life gets so busy when one doesn’t need to go to work for eight hours …
Thinking we were done, we came across an exit to the outside that did not, in fact, take us outside the museum, but into the museum’s beautiful garden. What a wonderful surprise! If you’d ever been to my garden in Victoria you’d know it feels a bit like an urban oasis. Well, this garden definitely had the same feel to it, though it was much better organized and a lot larger than my little plot. I think I spent more time out there than I did inside the museum. It was also incredibly cool to see daturas in such abundance in latish November … then again, any time I see flowers still in bloom at this time, I just shake my head in wonder and smile. It really is hard not to.
As the Golden Hour approached, we headed home, walking down Jardins del Turia, as usual. I love walking around the city at this time because the colours are simply stunning: the golden hues of the late sun against the ridiculously blue skies, the green of the trees in the park (don’t the leaves know they’re supposed to turn yellow and fall down? It’s autumn, after all!) and the dark contrasts of the naked tree branches that did get the message. It really is a magical time.
