Press release  

The Rock Museum launches a new chapter to foster critical thinking through “The sound of an uprising”

• The Rock Museum renovates its space to connect with young and local audiences through an educational programme, “The sound of an uprising”, which reclaims the genre as a countercultural, social and musical movement
• The space introduces its first-ever Temporary Exhibition: ‘Ahead of Their Time’, centred on the iconic film saga “Back to the Future”, a multifaceted installation that serves as a gateway to a journey through rock’s visionaries

The Rock Museum Barcelona today begins a new chapter focused on sharing the history of rock as a genre that has driven social, cultural and political change. The goal: to connect with local audiences, especially young people, to foster a critical spirit and the ability to ask uncomfortable questions in the face of today’s challenges. This is how “The sound of an uprising“ begins. This new chapter comes after two years of operation during which the Rock Museum has recognised the need to act as a cultural agent to raise awareness at a time when simplified, extremist and binary discourse is spreading like wildfire through society. The museum has transformed part of its space to incorporate new graphic and audio content that tells the history of rock in detail, through a chronological journey organised by decade. This new content narrates how the genre has always helped drive profound change through the power of its rhythms, song lyrics, and the strength and social commitment of its artists. For this reason, the museum is presented as “The sound of an uprising“, a concept that begins with the birth of the genre in the 1950s, in the context of racial segregation in the United States, with the legendary B.B. King at its centre, through to the 2000s, when the rise of the internet radically transformed the music industry and the way people listen to music. Considering that, from its very beginnings, rock challenged conservative social norms and became an instrument used by young people to drive social and political change, today more than ever it is urgent to pass on this cultural and musical legacy to new generations — so they know of the existence of a genre that swam against the tide. A necessary message at a time when linear, unreflective and reactionary thinking prevails. TEMPORARY EXHIBITION. “AHEAD OF THEIR TIME” For the first time, the Rock Museum presents a temporary exhibition: “Ahead of Their Time”, a show that uses the universe of the “Back to the Future” film trilogy as a gateway to a journey through the visionaries of rock and pop culture. The exhibition opens with a room dedicated to the world of the saga created by Robert Zemeckis: the iconic OUTATIME licence plate, the hoverboard that Marty McFly flew on, the sports almanac and other iconic objects, combined with a Gibson ES-345 guitar like the one McFly holds at the school dance. In the film, that year 1955 leaps ahead of history twice: Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry is performed before it was ever recorded, and a guitar appears that did not yet exist. Cinema turns the scene into a temporal paradox, and the museum now displays it as a metaphor for rock’s pioneering power. Building on this direct tribute to fandom, the temporary exhibition — on display from this June until the end of the year — unfolds other ways of “being ahead of one’s time“: the accident of musician Tony Iommi (who lost the tips of two fingers in a workplace accident) that gave birth to the metallic sound of Black Sabbath; the countercultural ideas and messages that arrived too soon and were misunderstood (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Velvet Underground); and the artists who forever changed the rules of live performance: The Beatles, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Grace Jones, Nina Hagen, Ritchie Blackmore, The Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa. Visitors will find original instruments and limited-edition replicas, records, photographs, film objects, graphic art, music and documents, alongside a chronological timeline comparing real and fictional dates: from Doc Brown and Marty’s 1985, to the film’s 2015, and from there to the present day. The temporary exhibition turns the Rock Museum into a kind of collective “time machine”: a capsule of futures where visitors can leave their own predictions about which artists, scenes or ideas of today might be tomorrow’s ahead of their time. A MUSEUM FOUNDED BY A ROCK LOVER Juanjo Castellano is the person behind the Rock Museum — a passionate rock fan from an early age. His story is that of a young man who reaches adolescence in the mid-80s, with his musical tastes shaped by bands such as Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Dire Straits and Spanish rockers Obús. Later, as he leaves his youth behind, he becomes drawn to more established bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, and discovers that this explosive, rebellious, vibrant and visceral music has its roots in the deep, melancholic Afro-American sounds that blues articulated in the United States at the end of the 19th century. His passion for the genre led him to develop a special affinity for the guitar as an instrument capable of creating the most powerful and penetrating melodies. “At first I was mainly drawn to the aesthetics of the guitar and what the guitarist represented on stage. Later, as I became more interested in the instrument, I discovered that a guitar doesn’t sound the same in the hands of two different guitarists, even if they play the same notes. Each person can make the guitar sound in their own distinctive way, even when playing exactly the same thing”, he explains. Juanjo has always had guitars at home, but a few years ago he began collecting them more seriously. “I started acquiring guitars that had belonged to some of the great rock stars — guitars I had seen played live on stage at concerts myself.” A passion that led him to accumulate more than 70 guitars at home. Stored wherever he could find space, the lack of room eventually led him to consider moving the guitars somewhere else where they could be shown to the public — and in doing so, create the space needed to explain in an educational and engaging way the history of the genre that has accompanied him throughout his life. And so the Rock Museum was born. “The guitars are the excuse to journey through the history of rock from its birth in the United States in the 1950s to the present day. The museum is organised by decade, and each section explains who the most relevant figures of the time were, the story behind their lyrics and melodies, but also what they meant for the era, what historical context they emerged from, and what changes they promoted through their music — often tied to commitment or protest around a social, political or cultural cause”, he underlines. A GUITAR COLLECTION UNIQUE IN EUROPE At the Rock Museum you can see guitars once played by B.B. King, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Bono (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Cliff Williams (AC/DC), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Santana, Eric Clapton, David Knopfler, Edward Van Halen (Van Halen), Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), George Harrison (The Beatles), Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend (The Who) and Brian May (Queen). It is a collection of extraordinary value and unique in Europe. Yet, despite its magnitude and significance, the guitars are the vehicle for travelling back in time and beginning a sonic journey that will lead visitors to discover epic moments in human history linked to the great legends of rock. Much of the music heard today draws from rock, just as rock once drew from blues. This web of influences explains the evolution of music across each era, and in the particular case of rock, visitors will discover across the museum’s different rooms — inaugurated today as The sound of an uprising— the full story of rock.