The Dust Bowl. When nature rebels
Temporary Exhibition
Self-produced
Temporary exhibition
For all audiences
When?
February 16, 2018 – January 5, 2019
October 3, 2024 – July 12, 2025
Check the opening hours of Sala Barcelona
Where?
Museu de la Vida Rural
Admission Fee
€3
free with museum admission
Climate change is forcing many people to abandon their lands and homes, and is putting many more at risk of displacement in the future.
Produced by the Museu de la Vida Rural of the Fundació Carulla , the exhibition "The Dust Bowl. When nature rebels" aims to highlight the consequences of the lack of understanding between humans and nature and how agricultural land can be laid waste, leading large populations to dramatic migration due to climatic factors.
Curated by Àlex Rebollo and taking the Dust Bowl as a paradigmatic example, extensively documented by photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Arthur Rothstein, this exhibition aims to reflect on climate refugees and the cases that are currently recurring in different parts of the world.
Through a careful presentation of the ecological and humanitarian catastrophe that occurred in the 1930s in the United States of America as a consequence of poor agricultural practices, aggravated by the effects of the Great Depression generated by the Crash of '29, the narrative thread leads us to open the debate on climate change, focusing on episodes currently occurring in different parts of the world where the risk of new climate migrations is a reality.
The exhibition features over forty photographs, many of them taken under the FSA (Farm Security Administration) in the 1930s by photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein and Russell Lee , among others; original pieces, audiovisuals and documentaries about the events of this episode and current cases of climate refugees. The exhibition also focuses on the rich cultural aspect derived from the Dust Bowl, such as in the narrative work of John Steinbeck, in the music folk music of Woody Guthrie or the cinema of John Ford and evokes the audience's experience throughset designs and participation.
Related Activities
The Dust Bowl. Conferència a càrrec de Susanna Tavera
Dissabte, 15 de desembre
Taller de rap Dust Bowl
14 i 15 de desembre 18.30 h.
Jornada Sàpiens sobre història i clima
Dissabte, 1 de desembre
Club de lectura: Steinbeck
Dilluns, 29 d’octubre
The Dust Bowl. Visita + taller
Activitats educatives al voltant de l’exposició temporal “The Dust Bowl. Quan la natura es rebel·la”
THE DUST BOWL · Visita comentada
Dissabte 18 d’agost, 11 h
Núria Graham & Jordi Vidal. Woody Guthrie, el folk sorgit de la pols
8 de juny de 2018, 19 h
Conferència-concert de Jordi Vidal i Núria Graham
Espectacle infantil «El món a les teves mans»
19 de maig de 2018, 18 h
Espectacle infantil
Cinefòrum: «El raïm de la ira» amb Jaume Roures i Andreu Mayayo
19 de maig de 2018, 16 h
Cinefòrum
Image Gallery
Audiovisual Content and Articles
Promotional Video | The Dust Bowl. When Nature Rebels
Video | Exhibition Prologue
Video | Questions about the Exhibition
The director of the Fundació Carulla, Marta Esteve; the US Consul General in Barcelona, Marcos C. Mandojana; and the exhibition curator, Àlex Rebollo, answer some questions about the exhibition.
Photographs | Opening
With interventions by Marcos C. Mandojana, US Consul General in Barcelona; Nicolau Brossa, president of the Fundació Carulla; Marta Esteve, director of the Fundació Carulla; and Àlex Rebollo, curator of the exhibition.
Video | Concert: Núria Graham & Jordi Vidal
On June 8, 2018, music photojournalist Jordi Vidal Sabata and singer Núria Graham offered a lecture-concert about Woody Guthrie, the most important American folk musician of the first half of the 20th century.
Watch the full event.
Article | Republic, Territory, and Indian Wars
By Susanna Tavera, professor and scientific supervisor of The Dust Bowl exhibition
Article | The Disturbing Relevance of "The Grapes of Wrath"
By Jaume Roures, film producer and founder of the Mediapro group
Article | Tom Collins, Jim Rawley
By Àlex Rebollo, curator of the exhibition The Dust Bowl
Article | This Land Is Our Land and the Land Is a Loan from Our Children
By Andreu Mayayo, professor of contemporary history
Article | Lange and Taylor, Work and Love in the Dust Bowl
By Àlex Rebollo, curator of the exhibition The Dust Bowl
Interview | Àlex Rebollo: "The problem of climate refugees will affect us all"
We interview Àlex Rebollo, curator of the exhibition The Dust Bowl
Article | #8M Dorothea Lange
Article on the occasion of International Women's Day
Article | New Deal Photography
Article on the occasion of the exhibition The Dust Bowl
Article | John Steinbeck, Reporter
By Robert Saladrigas. Article p ublished in Culturas of La Vanguardia (2007)
Article | Uprooted by Climate Change
We echo the report by scientists Julie-Anne Richards and Simon Bradshaw published by OXFAM Intermón
Article | Woody Guthrie
By Jordi Vidal Sabata, music photojournalist
Article | Migrant Mother
By Albert Carreras, head of cultural action at the Museu de la Vida Rural
Photographs | The Leaves of the Dust Bowl Tree
Collection of opinions and wishes from exhibition visitors
Video | These Americans may become ‘climate refugees’ (2017)
Climate change has forced the population of Shishmaref (Alaska) to consider the prospect of having to relocate their entire village before it disappears.
Year: 2017 – Directed by: CNN – Language: English
Video | Kiribati Island, Threatened by Climate Change
Duration: 3’17” – Year: 2013 – Directed by: Deutsche Well – Language: Spanish
Video | Bolivia's Second Largest Lake Extinct (2016)
Duration: 2’28” – Year: 2016 – Directed by: Univisión Noticias – Language: Spanish
Video | The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936)
Duration: 26’28” – Year: 1936 – Directed by: Pare Lorentz – Language: English
Music | Dust Bowl Ballads
Dust Bowl Ballads is an album by Woody Guthrie released by Victor Records in 1940. It is considered the first or one of the first concept albums with social protest as its backbone. It is an essential part of the folk corpus and has been an element of enormous influence to this day.
With just guitar and vocals, the album follows the migrations caused by the Dust Bowl to California and reflects both autobiographical traits and aspects of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath.
You can find his works published on the label Folkways of the Smithsonian Institution.
Music | Agnes “Sis” Cunningham
Agnes “Sis” Cunningham (1909-2004) was an American musician and composer associated with the sharpest left-wing in the USA. Born in Oklahoma, her protest folk music influenced artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bess Lomax.
Her compositions addressed the drama of the Dust Bowl with essential pieces such as Evicted Tenant, My Oklahoma Home or Great Dust Storm.
You can find her works published on the label Folkways of the Smithsonian Institution.
Video | Migrant Mother Photo
Beverly Brannan, curator of documentary photography at the Library of Congress, discusses the series of photographs taken by Dorothea Lange of Florence O. Thompson.
Duration: 3’06” – Directed by: History Channel – Language: English
Credits
ORGANIZATION AND PRODUCTION
Museu de la Vida Rural – Fundació Carulla
CURATORSHIP AND MUSEOGRAPHIC PROJECT
Àlex Rebollo
PROJECT DIRECTOR
Albert Carreras
SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR
Susanna Tavera
MUSEOGRAPHIC PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT
Jordi Puig and Montse Cabal
EXHIBITION DESIGN
Ramon Rosich, Joan Roca and Pepi Vega
COMMUNICATIONS
Jordi Puig and Roger Òdena
EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND ACTIVITIES PROGRAMMING
Carme Martí and Albert Carreras
PROOFREADING
Carme Martí and Jordi Puig
AUDIOVISUALS
Albert Carreras, Roger Òdena and Albert Grinyó
LIGHTING
Joan Roca
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Isaac Ballesté and Xavier Iborra
PHOTOGRAPHIC LABORATORY
Còpia Lab
GRAPHIC PRODUCTION
Grup Bou
CARPENTRY
Fusteria Mercadé
TREE SET DESIGN
Ismael Porta
TENT SET DESIGN
Joan Roca
CURTAINS
La Renovació
TRANSLATIONS
Manners Traduccions
FUNDACIÓ CARULLA
President: Nicolau Brossa i Carulla
Director: Marta Esteve i Zaragoza
MUSEU DE LA VIDA RURAL
Director: Ramon Rosich i Trullols
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Library of Congress
Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia
Tarragona Provincial Council
L’Espluga de Francolí City Council
National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia
Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona
Museum of History of Girona
Detroit Public Library
DeGolyer Library. Southern Methodist University, Dallas
Maletes Queralt
Wikimedia Commons
Zelig comunicació
Carla Picanyol
Jordi Vidal
Maria Civit
Francesc Cabal
Josep Maria Rué
Franquès Martí Family
Organized by
with the support of
In collaboration with
