Anita Gispert Vila (1891–1965) was Catalonia’s first registered female documentary photographer. Between 1911 and 1930, she captured life in Caldes de Montbui, a renowned thermal spa town in Catalonia. Beyond portraits, her lens documented local festivities, everyday moments, construction projects, and even crime scenes — preserving the town’s stories for generations.

Her innovative work, including multiple exposures and hand-colouring, earned recognition and awards, yet her identity as a pioneering woman in photography was often overlooked.

This exhibition at Museum THERMALIA celebrates Anita’s legacy, inviting visitors to explore Caldes’ history through her photographs and reflect on the enduring value of visual archives in connecting personal memory with collective heritage.

As part of the exhibition, the museum launched a participatory Open Call, inviting citizens of Caldes de Montbui to explore their family archives for portraits taken by Anita Gispert. The response was extraordinary — more than 40 previously unpublished portraits of grandparents and great-grandparents were uncovered.

These rediscovered memories are now included in the exhibition’s catalogue, available in both printed and digital editions, alongside a recreated 1920s living room that displays the portraits as they might once have appeared in family homes. This collective effort brings ancestral memories into the present, weaving them back into the town’s shared heritage and enriching the story that Anita began nearly a century ago.

Catalogue I Digital Version
Exhibition