From December, 17 2003 to June, 27 2004
The MNACTEC collection of televisions and collaboration with various companies have allowed for the presentation of the first major exhibition of television sets anywhere in Europe, covering an area of 250 m2 recounting the history of the design of distinctive artefacts that are so characteristic of the tangible culture of the second half of the 20th century.
During its nearly 50 years in existence, the outward appearance of the television has faithfully tracked the most varied tastes and fashions. The task of designers and manufacturing companies has been to make a technically highly sophisticated device without any historical precedent commercially acceptable and culturally comprehensible.
The exhibition presents a sample of 60 TV sets, true gems of industrial design, following a chronological and aesthetic pathway. From the great wooden cabinets and the first portable devices from the Fifties, to the outlandish TVs of the Sixties, and on to the flat screens manufactured today. Baird, Brionvega, Bush, Elbe, Grundig, Iberia, Inter, Philco, Philips, Sony, Telefunken are just some of the brands on display, imbued with hugely evocative power.
The technological evolution undergone by televisions likewise features in a display of traditional analogue antennae, down to an ASTRA satellite dish, which in 1997 brought digital TV to Spain for the first time.
The exhibition, which forms a part of 2003 Design Year, is supported by the Caixa Terrassa savings bank and ASTRA, the leading global satellite operator, in partnership with Televisió de Catalunya and the companies Phillips, Grundig and Bang & Olufsen.