MuVIM

Museu Valencià de la Il·lustració i de la Modernitat (Museo Valenciano de la Ilustración y la Modernidad or the Illustration and Modernity Museum of Valencia, phew, that’s a mouthful … no wonder everyone calls it MuVIM) has been on my list of places to visit for a while. I did get pretty close once, that day when I stood looking at it for about an hour and half from the line-up to the library next door, remember? Well, it was finally time to make a visit for real.

Ewa and I decided to meet up after her classes, at 2pm, but that meant a bit of a wait until 4pm when the museum actually opened. After stopping somewhere for a quick bite to eat, we still got there a bit earlier than expected, only to find that the line-up for the library was already quite long, telling me that the place is very popular and showing up at least half an hour before opening is a must. Duly noted. The nice thing about having a buddy to do stuff with is that waiting for anything goes by much faster when you can sit in a lovely park and chat, which is what we did.

When you enter MuVIM, the first thing you see is the massive model of the old city of València. Or, in other words, there is a trap for people like me. If it were at all possible, I would stay and stare at this thing for hours, especially if I could somehow manage to do that Mission Impossible thing where I’d suspend myself over maquette to get close and personal with every square inch of it. Yes, I really love these things this much, but then look at it! Isn’t it glorious?

The city model has an interesting history, too. In 1608, Antonio Mancelli drew a pretty detailed map of the city of València employing a schematic approach in his work. Almost a hundred years later, in 1704, a priest named Tomás Vicente Tosca y Mascó used Mancelli’s work and made his own version of the map, which included much more detail, including street outlines, squares and even building footprints. The model, built to 1:500 scale and measuring 24m2, is based primarily on Tosca’s engraving. Every building in the model was hand-crafted and painted by artisans and their handiwork is beautiful. It really was very difficult for me to walk away from the maquette, I could have stayed there for ever.

I literally had to drag myself away to go to the lower floor where besides a quietly hiding part of the ancient Roman road, there was an exhibition of the Study of M … which, I believe, included the works of students attending La Escuela de Arte y Superior de Diseño de Valencia (EASD). It was fun looking through all the different approaches to the design of such a simple subject matter. It certainly made me want to pull out the old sketchpad or InDesign and start creating … if only InDesign still worked on my Mac.

The main temporary collection, however, was in a long, dark room on the lower level of the museum. To be honest, I rarely do any research about the exhibits awaiting me in the various museums I go to, MuVIM being no exception, and for the first little while I didn’t really know what I was looking at. The “duh” moment did come, eventually, thank goodness, and then I was able to enjoy the contents a bit more. Because, really, I didn’t have to know that I was looking at the designs of Francis Montesinos, native to Velència, whose designs have graced the catwalks all over the world, because I was so awed by the stunning clothes (and more) that were in front of me. Why I had never heard of Montesinos is really more my own fault rather than his poor reach into western Canada … haute couture isn’t something that is often seen in boring little Victoria, and what a shame that is. I am not a fashion diva by any stretch of the imagination, but I know what I like and I love this man’s creativity. I love the designs, I love the fabrics, I love the colours, and, most of all, I love the whimsy in every piece. The Gallery has more but here is a little taste:

I think I took a photo of each and every piece because I felt I couldn’t get enough of looking at such pretty things. Now I found there is a whole website I can go to regularly and feast my eyes on even more creations. Technology, ain’t it grand?