Museu del Cinema-Col·lecció Tomàs Mallol

About the museum

Girona City Council acquired in January 1994 the collection of pre-cinema and cinema objects assembled by Tomàs Mallol (Sant Pere Pescador, 1923), an amateur filmmaker who shot 31 short films between 1956 and 1977 and who for more than thirty years collected devices and instruments related to the moving image. The museum opened on 8 April 1998 and was the first of its kind in Spain.

It occupies a three-storey building of almost 3,000 m² in the centre of Girona, with a permanent exhibition of around 1,500 m². The holdings comprise around 12,000 pieces (devices, accessories, photographs, prints and paintings), as well as some 2,000 posters, 800 books and magazines and 750 films, from the 17th century to around 1970.

The route shows around 1,500 objects and follows four centuries of the history of moving images: shadow puppets, camera obscura, magic lanterns, optical toys, the first steps of cinema with the Lumière brothers and Georges Méliès, and the birth of television and home cinema, including the children's Cine NIC. There are replicas that can be handled and projections that recreate the shows of the period. The museum has received several awards, among them the National Prize for Cultural Heritage of Catalonia in 2006.

Highlights

• Tomàs Mallol collection: around 12,000 pieces of pre-cinema and cinema
• Magic lanterns, camera obscura and Chinese shadow theatre
• Optical toys and early projection devices
• Replicas to handle and audiovisual shows
• Amateur and children's cinema, with the Cine NIC
• Library, video library and archive of the Institut d'Estudis

Permanent exhibition

• Colección Tomàs Mallol – Tour of four centuries of moving images, from shadow theatre and the magic lantern to the first film and television devices, with replicas that can be handled.

Founded

1998

Admission & discounts

Free admission: The first Sunday of each month, 29 October (Sant Narcís), 28 December (anniversary of the first public film screening) and 18 May (International Museum Day).

Free admission also for members of the Club d'Actors del Museu del Cinema, holders of the Targeta Girona Cultura 16–25, and members of AMC and ICOM.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: not available

The main entrance has a step of about 5 cm and the reception desk is not adapted, although staff help at all times. Two lifts serve all floors, with Braille and raised buttons, and there is a mixed accessible toilet on the ground floor. Eight accessible parking spaces near the museum. There are benches throughout the exhibition, replicas of devices that can be touched, and tactile visits that must be booked two weeks in advance. There is a sign-language video guide and an easy-read summary of the room texts; the audio guide does not include audio description, and the audiovisual on the ground floor has no subtitles. Guide dogs are admitted.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

Family workshops such as silent cinema, children's birthday parties (“Un aniversari de pel·lícula!”), summer camps and optical-toy activities to make at home. There are replicas of devices that visitors can handle.

Getting there & parking

Several Girocleta public bicycle stations are near the museum.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Shop with pre-cinema devices such as zoetropes and praxinoscopes, and museum products. Pushchairs can be left at reception.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

Up to 60 guests.

Workshop and projection room for 40 people (up to 60) and an audiovisual room for 25, with a sound system and projector.

Plan your visit