Exhibition 'SEAT: Factory of Transformations'

What's it about

The exhibition portrays how the SEAT company unleashed a set of profound transformations that went far beyond the automotive sphere. The establishment of SEAT had a decisive impact on the economy, urban planning, architecture, culture, and politics of the country, becoming a central actor in the modernization of Catalan and Spanish society. The show, divided into five sections, begins its journey with the reasons that led to the installation of the factory in Barcelona, a fact that accelerated the industrialization of the Zona Franca and spurred the creation of a modern industrial colony in the current Marina neighborhood. This process placed the company as a symbol of the Franco regime at a time of economic opening and redefinition of international alliances. One of the main axes of the exhibition is the analysis of control mechanisms over workers and the clandestine struggle of the workers' commissions. Labor demands at SEAT became a vanguard element in the workers' movement for democracy. The show dedicates special attention to the strike of October 18, 1971, which culminated with the police occupation of the factory and the death, by gunshot, of worker Antonio Ruiz Villalba. SEAT: Factory of Transformations closes its itinerary by retracing workers' memory in the Marina neighborhood and reviewing the brand's influence on contemporary culture and society. The exhibition brings together archival photographs, objects, and historical documents, as well as artistic installations that invite reflection on the contrast between the struggle for the preservation of memory and the current social and urban transformations of the neighborhood. The exhibition will occupy the new Cos de Guàrdia, recently rehabilitated. The curators Jordi de Miguel (Barcelona, 1980) is a collaborating journalist at CRÍTIC SCCL. He has been a screenwriter for the comics Històries de la Model and La SEAT: motor de llibertat (Barcelona Llibres) and for the graphic adaptation of Homenatge a Catalunya (Debate/Rosa dels Vents). He has also participated in the documentaries Les llavors de Berta Cáceres and Centreamèrica: terra en litigi. Laia Soldevila (Linyola, 1985) is a journalist and editor at CRÍTIC SCCL. She has coordinated the comics Històries de la Model and La SEAT: motor de llibertat (Barcelona Llibres). She is also a screenwriter for the documentary Barnils, tal com raja and the historical documentary series La memòria del Pla.

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