The Great Metamorphosis

The long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic, the jump from in-person meetings to the ubiquity of virtual meetings, and the postmodern beating that the notion of the truth has taken, put to good use by Trumpism, have marked a year that was an historic and even geopolitical turning point. If we re-read the Butlletí from 2019 in the light of 2020, the commitment to city museums as heritage centers of urban knowledge and citizen-building gains force. Connecting cities, connecting citizens. This is how it is approached in this 2020 newsletter, as always, looking at Barcelona on multiple scales, from the neighborhoods to its place in the world. Just one year has gone by yet it feels like a century. It was a hard time for us on the museum team, working from home, but it was also intense and fruitful, as we were fully immersed in the transformation of the institution, with our eyes on its 80th anniversary in 2023. Fortunately, morale remains high. We face the challenge of orienting the museums for the benefi t of the citizens in complex economic, social and political times.