Museum reconnects romanesque paintings with original village sounds

Researcher Ona Balló integrated local environmental sounds into the Romanesque art galleries at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona, Spain.

The installation seeks to reunite the paintings with the auditory environments of the Pyrenees mountains where they originated. The paintings currently housed in the MNAC were removed from their original churches in the Pyrenees during the 20th century.

This move began in 1919 when American art dealer Ignasi Pollak and Italian restorer Franco Stefanoni used the strappo technique to detach a fresco from the Santa María de Mur church. While some pieces were sold to private collectors or the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Junta de Museos eventually moved many to Barcelona to prevent further loss. Balló created a soundscape that features recordings of local nature and community life.

The audio includes birds, rain, bells from Santa Maria de Taüll, and sheep bleating in Santa Maria de Ginestarre. It also incorporates human elements like the Gregorian chants performed by the inhabitants of Taüll and the sounds of a thousand-year-old procession. The project aims to provide a terrestrial perspective to the sacred art. While the museum setting emphasizes the divinity of the frescoes, Balló uses these sounds to ground the works in their historical context.

Visitors can experience the installation until 30 April as part of the Loop festival.