It starts with a little figurine, a refrigerator magnet, a Maneki Neko, the Japanese lucky cat. Then comes a beautiful minimalist cat mug like the ones we have at ARISTOSHOP; a cushion with printed kittens; a framed artistic photograph of your cat, A5 size… And before you know it, your collection of feline objects has gotten out of hand. Everywhere you look, everything around you is evidence of your love for cats. The question is: where are you going to put it all?
That must have been what Vera Novosyolova thought when she decided to found the “Museo dels Gats” (the cat museum) in Lloret de Mar (Girona). It was 2002. Vera had collected countless objects related to the world of cats throughout her life. She acquired the first one at a tourist fair in Riga. Over the months, the shelves of the travel agency she ran gradually filled up with cats. It was not something she had planned. It simply happened. Perhaps, unconsciously, to make up for a “thorn in her side” she had carried since childhood. Vera was never able to have an ARISTOGATO in her childhood, because her father’s work meant that the family was constantly moving from one city to another. When the museum opened, she and her husband treasured more than 12,000 objects that brought together their two passions: cats and art. That is why they decided to open this remarkable gallery.
The permanent exhibition displays around one third of the 12,000 objects Vera owns, distributed among six rooms in an old fishermen’s house beside Lloret beach. On the façade, a smiling cat welcomes visitors:
Among the collection’s highlights are toys from the former Soviet Union, coins, telephones, glasses, costume jewelry… Visitors will also find porcelain, glass, and bronze works, teapots, embroidery… Not to mention paintings in different styles, from different places and by different artists (some of them date back to the 17th century). There is also the selection of 4,000 postcards that make up the collection and a fine display of posters from different periods, most of them advertisements, in which cats are the protagonists.
These are some of the works that can be seen inside:
Of course, this is a museum for cat lovers, for everyone who enjoys seeing all the things felines suggest and evoke in artists and creators of every kind. But it is also a museum suitable for all lovers of “unusual museums”, that is, museums that go beyond the cultural canon, museums that fuel the debate about “what is art and what is not”… Because although, in its Latin origin, a museum was “the place consecrated to the Muses,” today it is much more. It can also be the location where objects or curiosities are exhibited that may attract the public’s interest for tourism purposes.
The one in question is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. If desired, telephone reservations can be made to visit the museum outside the established hours. The museum also has a gift shop, in case you would like to take the opportunity to give a souvenir to another ARISTOPETER….
So now you know: you already have an activity planned for your next getaway to Catalan lands. For just €3 (plus an additional euro if you would like to take photos), you can lose yourself among feline artworks and discover countless original and curious objects. Until then, for those who cannot contain their impatience, there is the possibility of seeing the museum through someone else’s eyes…