Culture begins to inventory and catalog movie theaters of special interest

Within the framework of the National Heritage Plan of the 20th century, the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE) and the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports have launched a project to inventory and catalog the historical movie theaters of special cultural value existing in Spain.

The Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE) and the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports have launched a project to inventory and catalog historic and special cinemas. existing cultural value in Spain. This initiative, which involves an investment of 20,100 euros, is part of the National Heritage Plan of the 20th century, promoted by the IPCE with the collaboration of the autonomous communities.

This project seeks, in a first phase, to locate and study those cinemas of singular cultural interest that could be subject to protection and rehabilitation in the future. The inventory and cataloging is thus configured as the necessary starting point for a subsequent selection of those rooms of greatest interest, with a view to the design and development of specific protection, recovery and reuse programs. All of this with the aim of highlighting such spaces, which, in addition to having in some cases an undeniable architectural quality, generally enjoy a deep symbolic and emotional charge as they are custodians of the memory of an entire era.

The National Heritage Plan of the 20th century has as its objectives research, knowledge, protection and dissemination of the different areas of creation of the 20th century. In particular, this new and specific line of action referring to movie theaters responds to a situation that has been happening in recent times, such as the gradual disappearance of a good part of our historic cinemas, mostly located in urban centers or towns. small in size. Currently we witness not only the disappearance of their original activity, but often the irreversible destruction of the buildings themselves, many of them with historical, architectural, artistic or memory-related values ​​worthy of appreciation and protection.

The work will be carried out by researchers from the Department of Art History of the University of Santiago. For documentation, data collection and research, the work team will rely on the information provided by the ICAA, on local studies and bibliography on film history, in addition to direct contact on the ground with the exhibition halls or those responsible. municipal urban planning and heritage.

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