The avant-gardes had an enormous impact in Europe in the period between the wars. After Paris, Prague became a second centre of Cubism and was home to a number of artists. In 1918, the advent of democracy in Czechoslovakia marked the start of two decades of cultural prosperity: photography, graphics and the cinema gave rise to works that influenced the whole world. Paris, too, with its cultural freedom, attracted artists from abroad, many of whom were photographers: Man Ray, Brassaï, François Kollar and Germaine Krull and, fleeing from Fascism in Germany, Gisèle Freund, Gerda Taro and Robert Capa. Paris was reaffirmed as a place where ideas circulated, and where galleries, agencies and publications proliferated.

At the same time, Catalonia also joined the avant-garde and refreshed the dominant aesthetic in the cultural circles of the time. Illustrated magazines and books from Europe introduced many influences and photography was no exception to this, especially in fields such as advertising and architecture.

The relations between Prague and Paris have often been exhibited and studied. This exhibition sets out to reveal the contributions by Catalan artists. In this way, the MNAC is offering a fresh reading that will help put Catalan avant-garde photography where it belongs on the international scene.

Counterfeiting has been a travelling companion of coinage right from the very start. The issuing authorities have combated it with the law, through punitive measures, and with technology, encouraging the improvement of the minting of coinage. Additionally, in each period practical methods for exposing forgeries have also been introduced. The exhibition sheds light on this true clandestine story but way of some of the most notable pieces featuring in this long, continuous and exciting adventure stretching from Antiquity to the present day