Curator of the Museum of Lleida, Carmen Berlabé says that “Republicans also lost the Civil War at the level of reputation because it was said that they destroyed heritage”

(11/15/2013) “The Marxist people burned churches during the Spanish Civil War” is one of the popular beliefs that have been repeated throughout history and today. Carmen Berlabé, curator of the Museum of Lleida, has denied this belief in Espai Orígens. Twenty people have followed a talk given this afternoon. Berlabé has made it clear that the only destroyers were uncontrolled groups “even though the perception was another” and that, therefore, neither side of the war was involved in such events.

The curator of the Museum of Lleida spoke about the rescue operations of the artistic heritage, both by the government of the Spanish Republic and the Catalan Government – Generalitat -, and the occupying forces of Franco. This was exemplified by elements of La Noguera area and the Territory of Lleida, such as Gothic stone sculptures of the Virgin of Camarasa or St. Peter Martyr who chairs the altarpiece in Alos de Balaguer.

In this sense, Berlabé has also explained the actions carried out by the Republican Government to preserve important heritage assets. One of them was “to send to a Paris exhibition on Catalan art some important artistic assets”, as in the case of the Pantocrator from the Church of Sant Climent de Taüll (Alta Ribagorça). Too many, he said, went to the town of Olot before being allocated to Geneva.

This Friday conference, which has coincided with the Science Week for Peace and Dialogue of UNESCO-, opens series of talks dedicated to the Spanish Civil War. On Friday 22nd November at 7 pm will give a lecture entitled “An educational approach to the archaeology of the Civil War: the bridgehead of Balaguer”, while on 5th October at 7:30pm, the documentary Transmissions: Memòries de Lluís Sala.

Espai Orígens hosts since last August, the exhibition Conviure amb la por – Living with Fear (1938): the bridgehead of Balaguer, who was released in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the facts. The center manages, since the opening of the exhibition, guided tours to the hill of El Merengue, an area signaled by the Democratic Memorial.