Teià (Maresme) City Council celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the birth of the Fons Batllori with the Batllori x Batllori exhibition, which will open on Friday, September 8 at 7:30 p.m. in La Unió.
As its promoters explain, “it is an exhibition of celebration and recognition of the Teià Batllori Fund, which was born from the connection of the illustrious and renowned cartoonist Antoni Batllori Jofré (ABJ, 1915-1999) with the town, as well as the generosity of the family, particularly his wife.
soul and engine
In 2003, Maria Teresa Obiols donated to the municipality a large part of the artist’s work, with more than 1,500 originals, and all the furniture in his studio, which can be visited in a faithfully recreated space in the Municipal House of Culture.
Since then, it was his son, Toni Batllori Obiols (1951-2023), who took care of himself. For two decades, the longed-for ninotaire energized the Fund and made it known with samples and editions of the collection’s own wardrobe: originals, Christmas carols, calendars and various reinterpretations, such as the exhibitions ‘Els Objectes de ‘Antoni Batllori Jofré’, ‘La Riera pam a pam’ or ‘Pedres i papallones’. In 2015, to celebrate the centenary of his birth, the book A. Batllori Jofré in 100 (+1) drawings was published and the short play ‘Un món dibuixat’ was premiered, written and performed by Toni himself. Batllori dressed with a big head with his father’s face specially built for the occasion.
Last strip by Jordi Batllori in La Vanguardia on Saturday, January 7
Always with the intention of creating a living space for exchange, and with the aim of stimulating active participation, Batllori organized the annual workshops El primer chiste and La primera tira for 6th grade students at El Cim school and 2nd ESO of the Turó d’en Baldiri Institute.
Throughout these years, the Fund has traveled beyond Teià (to the Ter de Manlleu Museum, in Sant Julià de Vilatorta, in Vilanova i la Geltrú…) with the traveling exhibition on the centenary of ABJ and at the same time time, has been visited by cartoonists and artists from other disciplines thanks to Toni Batllori’s universe of relationships. This is the case of Cesc, Roto, Guillermo Cifré, José María Cadena, José María Vallès, Joma, Arnal Ballester or José María Alguersuari.
twelve proposals
From all this “and trying to follow the ABJ logic”, the promoters of this tribute have chosen twelve proposals from the list that Toni Batllori himself had left outlined for this exhibition. “And it occurred to us -they explain- to display them around a central calendar, which is a very batlloria”. In each of the months there are dating references and singular reminders.
The exhibition can be visited until October 1. Until then, other activities are scheduled: on September 17 at 11 a.m. there will be a family workshop “of found objects”, on the 24th at 11:30 a.m. there will be a guided tour of the exhibition followed by a vermouth, and on the last day at 10 a.m. there will be a “route batlloriana” by emblematic places of the town that ABJ drew or with which it established a special bond. The itinerary has been prepared by the painter Anna Ballester and the art and history technician Cristina Armengol, and will be embodied in a triptych so that anyone who wants to can do it freely on foot as a new tourist attraction for the town.
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