The
Torre Vella de Salou houses a unique museum: the
Contemporary Enamel Museum, a collection of enamels from all over the world, either by acquisitions, donations or deposits, which has reopened its doors to visitors after its closure for the pandemic.
The Enamel Museum
can be visited from Monday to Saturday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The visit is free and allows you to discover a wide collection of works from the 20th century, which includes some left in deposit by the Museu d’Arts Decoratives de Barcelona.
The birth of this unique museum begins with the biennial enamels calls organized by the City Council in 1985 at the national level and since 1989 at the international level. The works that won the remunerated award for each call became the property of the Salou City Council, so that the current Enamel Museum was created.
The mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, and the councilor for Cultural Services, Xavier Montalà, have been satisfied with the re-coverage and the possibility that residents and visitors can enjoy the works on display. They have also explained that they are working on air conditioning the space to ensure good conservation of the works.
The director of the Museum, since 1997, is Andreu Vilasís, one of the great international names in the field of contemporary enamel art. He is considered one of the best representatives of the so-called "Escola de Barcelona" of fire enamels. His work has been awarded internationally; He has carried out numerous individual exhibitions of enamel, drawing and painting, inside and outside the country; and he has been a judge in different competitions in France, Germany, Japan, the United States, among others. In addition, in 1987, he received the Letter of Mestre Artesà from the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Likewise, he is the founder and director of the magazine L'Esmalt; author of numerous specialized articles in national and international magazines; and creator of multiple initiatives within the sector, such as the CIDAE, the Contemporary Enamel Museum of Salou, etc.
On the other hand,
the conservation of the Museum is the responsibility of Núria L. Ribalta, a graduate in Art History and a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona. She is also a graduate in Enamels at the Escola d'Arts Plàstiques i Disseny "Llotja", where she is a teacher. She regularly exhibits her plastic work of drawing, painting and enamel, which has received several awards. She has works exhibited in museums, such as those of Decorative Arts in Moscow, Kecskemét (Hungary); the Museum of Enamels, in Salou; Municipal of Limoges (France); Himmerod (Germany); Kentucky (USA); and the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona.
The Contemporary Enamel Museum of Salou is located in a part of the
Torre Vella, one of the unique buildings in the capital of the Costa Dorada. It is a sixteenth century watchtower, built to warn of pirate attacks, very frequent on the Catalan coast at this time.
Did you know...Enamel is a technique used in art, ceramics, and other crafts. It is produced by fusing
powdered glass pigments melted at temperatures between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius.
Enamel can be applied to almost any metal, ceramic or glass. One of its main qualities is that it is soft, resistant and very durable, since it maintains bright colors for a long time. Also, it is not combustible. Its main disadvantage is that it has a tendency to break if subjected to deformation or stress.
