25 November 2016

24 November saw the formal opening of the Turnery Museum in Torrelló, one of the 28 sites comprising the Regional Structure of the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia (MNACTEC). This new cultural institution, which has for a number of months already been hosting scheduled visits and artistic and academic events, opened the doors to its museum displays, with the exhibition space divided into a number of galleries explaining the process, history and characteristics of the lathing industry.

The Museum of Lathing is housed in the former Can Vidal factory, where the premises now serve to explain the process of industrialisation in Catalonia through a traditional craft, the lathing of wood and horn, which with the arrival of industrialisation became an industrial sector complementing the textile trade. It shows how craft workshops gave way to factories, and how the need for accessories for textile machinery prompted the development of factories with more than 60 workers during the 20th century.