ART FIRST
ARTISTS OF PREHISTORY
WHEN DID THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE THROUGH IMAGES ARISE?
WHAT IS THE FIRST PHYSICAL EVIDENCE FOR SYMBOLIC BEHAVIOR?
IS THIS ABILITY UNIQUE TO ANATOMICALLY MODERN HUMANS, THAT IS TO SAY, US?
OR ARE THERE PRECEDENTS IN OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN SPECIES?
The development of creative and abstract thinking is one of the great milestones of human evolution. However, the ephemeral nature of the first forms of artistic expression reduces the possibilities of tracing their origins in time.
When did the ability to communicate through the images arise? What is the first physical evidence for symbolic behaviour? Is this ability unique to anatomically modern humans, that is to say, us? Or are there precedents in other members of the human species?
The exhibition «Art First. Artists of the prehistory» offers a journey into the past in search of the origins of art. In turn, the exhibition also explains Levantine rock art, one of the most original artistic expressions emerging more than 7,000 years ago, both in Catalonia and in the rest of the Mediterranean Iberian peninsular.