72 hours of non-stop partying in the best nightclubs of the Valencian Community, the perfect scenario for the desire for freedom, creation and vanguard of the youth of the 80s. Something like that (and much more) was the “Ruta Destroy” or “Ruta del Bakalao”. Now, almost 45 years after its inception, Bombas Gens Centre d’Arts Digitals produces the exhibition La Ruta: modernity, culture and uncontrol, an enhancement of this cultural phenomenon. Here you can get your tickets for the immersive experience.
La Ruta: modernity, culture and uncontrol is a sensory journey to an exciting chapter of our recent history through original objects, real testimonies, VR360º and laser-mappingprojections. In the past there have been other exhibitions in Valencia about the popularly known “Ruta Destroy”, but none like this one, which relies on an immersive format with which viewers can interact.
Much more than partying and hedonism
To talk about the “Ruta” we must go back to the early 80s and the surroundings of the CV-500, a road very close to the city of Valencia and that runs along the beach of Les Palmeres and towns like El Saler or Pinedo, where some of the most successful nightclubs of the time were located.
Every week thousands of young people congregated there to enjoy endless nights of partying, chaining one club after another. But what began as a meeting point for young people who went out to “party”, soon became something much bigger: inside and outside the Valencian clubs a movement was born that included electronic music, graphic design and fashion, among other disciplines.
La Ruta: modernidad, cultura y descontrol uncovers this countercultural movement, overthrowing all the myths about the “Ruta del Bakalao“. Partying and hedonism were combined in this period with moments of splendor in fields such as Valencian design or fashion and in an authentic musical revolution, always with a very disruptive, independent and alternative character.
The so-called “Ruta Destroy” was the most mediatic expression of the Valencian movida and was so important that it is comparable to movements of those years that were born in much larger cities such as Manchester, Madrid, Berlin or Amsterdam. With it, the city of Valencia, normally on the fringes of the big cultural centers, was put in the spotlight for more than a decade.
What we will be able to see in La Ruta: modernity, culture and uncontrollable
Throughout the 10 rooms of Bombas Gens (more than 2,000m2 of exhibition space), La Ruta: modernity, culture and uncontrol takes us by the hand to know all the details of this exciting chapter of history, from its beginnings in the early 80s to its decadence, well into the 90s. It does so by combining historical and documentary rigor with a playful and festive approach, which makes it recommendable for all audiences.
What will we find in the 10 rooms of Bombas Gens? The first two rooms explain the origins of the movement, which gained strength 45 years ago, at a time of opening in the country where the first youth idols, the protest song, the first discos and the birth of the so-called Movida Valenciana converged. While all this was happening, the club culture was born in Valencia and, with it, the germ of the “Ruta del Bakalao”. “Ruta del Bakalao” (Bakalao Route).
Next, a room dedicated to show objects of the time: from technology or vehicles (such as the mythical Vespino GL) to collectibles of the time and lots of material rescued from the discos of the 80s and 90s. If you lived through those years, you will be overcome by a pleasant nostalgia.
The walk through “La Ruta” continues with the spectacular immersive room. The content of this room is like a trip back in time to the best discos in Valencia. This is possible with the combination of digital scanning, a very precise lighting design, laser-mapping and other technological elements that put us right into the narrative.
The “Labyrinth of creations” room shows everything that the movement brought with it: graphic design, architecture and interior design, fashion, performances or subversive theater. This room, which also includes audiovisual pieces, is followed by another where a complete documentary is projected.
Music also has its own room, which pays tribute to both record stores, which supplied the DJs, and some of the designers and main creators of the graphics of “La Ruta” and where we will discover everything about what was playing at that time.
The exhibition ends with two art installations of which we won’t give you spoilers, as well as with a virtual reality experience that works as an emotional end to the trip. If you also want to get excited, you have no other choice but to go to La Ruta: modernity, culture and uncontrolled.
This is the first production of Bombas Gens Centre d’Arts Digitals The center is recognized in Valencia (and in the rest of the state) for offering immersive experiences with cutting-edge technology. The center has worked with a disciplinary and mostly local team and with the collaboration of prominent profiles that lived “La Ruta” in first person: DJs, designers, creatives and nightclub managers, among others.
The curator of the exhibition is Artur Duart, director of the center; the production management has been in charge of Monica Perez Blanquer, director of operations of the center; Jordi Sellas, artistic director of the center, heads the team of Layers of Reality, responsible for the virtual reality content of the exhibition.
