The municipal museums, archives and exhibition centres have changed course in 2009 to keep up with the cultural demands of society in Barcelona.

More interdisciplinary and laying greater emphasis on research and the social dimension, their qualitative offerings have borne fruit, as attested by the figures—a 10% to 12% rise in the number of visitors. That is, nearly 2,200,000 people have visited exhibitions at some of the twelve municipal venues.

Simultaneously, over 2,800,000 people have taken part in such activities as courses, conferences and workshops hosted by those museums.

The watchword is “a renewal of the museums’ creed” by reinterpreting heritage and shedding new light on it, as the Council’s culture director, Jordi Martí, pointed out in the course of a press conference, held in the main hall of DHUB Montcada to review the Council’s museums, archives and exhibition centres for 2009.

Just one year after it opened, DHUB has become the fourth most visited exhibition centre in the city, despite lacking its own premises—currently under construction in the plaça de les Glòries. Its activities have unfolded at two temporary venues—DHUB Pedralbes (housing the Museu de les Arts Decoratives, Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària and Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques collections) and DHUB Montcada, the site of temporary exhibitions, study galleries and other activities.

A total of 88,869 people have attended some of the exhibitions or activities hosted by DHUB. The figure is double that if we include the users of the centre—163,301 people.

The most frequented municipal venue was the Picasso Museum, with just over a million visitors, followed by the Museu d’Història de Barcelona (624.178), the Museu de Ciències Naturals (174.127), DHUB (88.869), La Virreina. Centre de la Imatge (74.441), La Capella (47.764), the Museu de Ceràmica (37.006), the Museu Barbier-Mueller (31.142), the Museu Frederic Marès (26.603), the Museu Etnològic (25.320) and the Arxiu Fotogràfic de Barcelona (8.858).

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