The free exhibition can be seen until 6 November between 11.00 and 18.00 hours in the Clock Building of the Port of Valencia
The exhibition contains 300 labels of Valencian products such as oranges, liqueurs and wines, with designs from the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century
The brand images are testimony to the Valencian creativity which, thanks to the Port of Valencia, travelled and spread our art and the Valencian land all over the world
València, November 3th, 2022.- The The history of Valencian design, the entrepreneurs who went out to sell their products outside our land and the fundamental role of the Port of Valencia in the expansion of Valencian exports all over the world. Through 300 labels and old photos of the port area, the exhibition ‘València, Porta al Disseny. Exportaciò dels nostres productes als segles XIX i XX’, takes a journey through time to discover the creativity and exporting vocation of the producers of oranges, wines, liquors and other Valencian products.
The exhibition, which can be visited free of charge until 6 November between 11.00 and 18.00 hours in the Clock Building of the Port of Valencia, has already been visited by 12,000 people. Residents of the cap i casal and towns in the province, tourists and groups of students and schools have visited the exhibition to learn about part of the history of Valencian society. The massive export of Valencian agri-food products throughout Europe, between the end of the 19th century and the 1960s, forced hundreds of producers to create a brand image with which to identify their products. The designs for these labels and posters were an experimental field of design for Valencian artists and lithographers. An exhibition that reflects the creativity of the period and at the same time highlights the entrepreneurial work of Valencian society and businessmen in taking their products through the Port of Valencia to all corners of the world.
The thousands of brand images are testimony to the Valencian creativity that, thanks to the improvements in the means of transport and especially to the Port of Valencia, travelled and spread our art and the Valencian land all over the world. The originality of the brand image in products of excellent quality could make the difference to the customer, ranging from the traditional and picturesque image to the exotic or modern.
The target languages, even the traditional types and landscapes of those countries, were used to convince buyers in an effort to strengthen trade relations. Maritime exports were evident in the use of motifs such as sailing ships and steamships or maps alluding to the connections between the Valencian territory and other countries. All of this can be seen until Sunday 6 November in the Clock Building.
València, Porta al Disseny. Exportaciò dels nostres productes als segles XIX i XX’ is organised by the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), joining with it the celebration of the city of Valencia as World Design Capital 2022, making known the importance that the Port had and has in the export of Valencian products and the designs that accompany them.
Activities for the youngest visitors
The exhibition has a space where an educational workshop is held for children to learn the printing techniques used by the Valencian creators. In the workshop, which has been attended by hundreds of students, the participants have used the stencil technique to print silk paper. Using different stencils inspired by the labels in the exhibition – with motifs associated with nature, the climate, healthy living or exotic places – the participants in this activity made their own designs, using acrylic paint, which was applied to the open areas of the stencil with rollers on the tissue paper. After drying, the silk-screen printing technique is used to frame the composition with an image that gives unity to all the works produced.