Artists and exhibition

We really liked the Benjaminian idea of a history generated by the interrelation of many stories, of a past that constitutes a power that is not exhausted, that shouts at us continuously and that can be reinterpreted from the now. I would also like to say that we were surprised that all the artists to whom we approached and to whom we proposed our starting point, felt absolutely identified, and even, in some cases, rethought the work to achieve a better assembly.

Although I would not talk about works that have lines in common, we do seek to dialogue with each other. In some cases complementing each other, in others generating a formal and conceptual counterpoint. What we could say is that what links them are stories, the stories themselves that emphasize that which is human, there is no epic, there are no great answers, rather they open questions. How do we sustain the mourning that has caused us so much loss, so much pain? How do we continue living with the burden of Francoism? What tools do we have to repair and transform the future?

The inclusion of artists born in 40 who have the dictatorship as one of their thematic axes in their artistic journey also seemed important. There were not a few of them, but both Francesc Torres and Concha Jerez seemed to us to be a good counterpoint in terms of posture and visuality towards the subject. We chose her works from the 90s, even though Concha Jerez, due to her way of working, made a specific site extension to adapt her work to the space and context of the exhibition, which we understood as a loving gift from of the artist.

We also had the will to put at the center the issues related to the control of women, sexual repression and psychological abuse of the entire dissident society. For this reason we chose a space (the Sala Castellví) where the confluence of libertarian thought, before the coup d'état of Francisco Franco, the struggles of women since the first years of the last century, my children who live on the margins in the more absolute precariousness but maintaining the dignity and development of revolutionary psychiatry in exile.

That is why the work of Dora García pointing to Alexandra Kollontai in 50 years of history as a model of the progressive thought of the 20s and 30s in Spain and its recovery by the feminist movement of the 70s. The work of Lola Lasurt refers us to a choreography – of the many that were performed at the time – by Marta Graham in tribute to the republican struggles and that shows us the international echo that the coup d'état in Spain had. The work of Carles Guerra, weaving the psychiatry of Francesc Tosquelles finely through the remains of documents and documentaries which once again makes us think about what psychiatric research could have been like in a country that still suffers from the lack of medicine. psychiatric and psychological that only knows hypermedication as a treatment for emotions and traumas. We have also chosen the expanded works of Antoni Hervás that teach us the survival strategies for misogyny and homophobia in that past that unfortunately still survives. Four artists from two very different generations. Four glances that intersect.

And when we talk about repression, we immediately find the repression of languages, the obsession with annulling identities, differences. Here we will find the only work made in the Spanish state before the death of the dictator in 1972, by Guillem Viladot. His complaint against the repression of the language, which is still in force.

Also, a work that appeared in my first imagination due to the exhibition and that is a central project as a work of historical exploration in the lived reality of the survivors is the magnificent work of Jaume Serra Torelló and Joan Antón Serra. Two friends who spent more than 15 years stepping on the lands of the Levant and Aragon, following the routes and actions of the maquis with a result that was more than photographic, with images and texts necessary to truly understand the contradictions of history. I take advantage of this space to pay tribute to Jaume Serra Torelló, who has not been able to reach this moment of visibility of his work here, and together with this tribute I call to put a focus of attention on the people who, like him and his colleague They work in silence with the sole desire to understand the history that constitutes us as people.

This work by the Serras spun the story from the work of Francesc Torres on the maquis along with the work of Marco Noris, an artist who travels through history with his itineraries, showing us that one can think with one's feet by rediscovering the words of the that left their mark and that reminds us that toponymy was a place of linguistic resistance during the dictatorship, especially promoted by the Excursionist Center of Catalonia.

And if we talk about the silence of the disappeared, the work of Maria Amparo Gomar Vidal shakes us strongly with the words of the relatives of those shot in Paterna. A generous work both on their part and on the part of the families (I take advantage of this space to sour them again!) that has allowed us to show the most treasured memories, the objects extracted from the foundries and that belonged to their loved ones. Here I can't help but ask a question: who will help them, who will help us manage this mourning?

And when we think about managing these mourning and pain, we forget other absences, such as the exiled and retaliated scientists, emptying the laboratories of research that had been left without resources or those of the men and women who lived on the outskirts of the great European cities. as cheap labor in an indifferent Europe, leaving their children in this Spain that left them in a true emotional drift. What do we know about the prisoners who did forced labor? Who often returned home, if they returned, immersed in the deepest silence. Entire cities built with the sweat and blood of ignominy. Companies that were enriched by this blood and that are still active, both active... in the IBEX 35. Maria Ruido and her Interior Memory, Ana Teresa Ortega, Domenec and Alán Carrasco, remind us of these facts openly, stating the questions that we have to do it, from the most intimate memory, to the ironic letter that we know will not have any response.

Although we did not intend to be exhaustive, we could not leave aside particularly topical issues such as the irresponsibility of the Spanish State in the decolonial processes of Francoism and its current drifts, both in Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara. It has cost us a lot (in fact we believe that this difficulty has to be on the table for debate) to find and exhibit works by Guinean artists with content of colonial criticism. Filiberto Obama Nsué and Ndong Obama are two of them. We hope to open the gap to make visible this drama of collusion between brutal dictators.

Finally, two openings take us even further back to the present. Meridiano Madrid, dreams and lies by the artist Pep Agut, skewers the Spanish imperialist colonial past with a present full of injustices also noted in the dates of the Jordis imprisonment. A bunch of tubers (the “franquitos”) refer us to the ridiculous and no less criminal character in Picasso's Dreams and Lies of Franco. We were clear that this work had to go to the ruins, creating a common thread between the past and present of this country. We are very satisfied with this decision.

The other work that we will find before entering the bibliographic selection space are two pieces by Marcelo Expósito. They both ask us questions: how is it possible that the dictatorship has remained in power? With what strategies? And finally, we have had a failed constitution for more than 40 years, and therefore obsolete... will we continue to accept it?
 
Works and participants in audiovisual archive

Curator interview
https://elbornculturaimemoria.barcelona.cat/noticia/lart-no-sacomoda-mes-aviat-al-contrari-habita-lescletxa/

Prologue audiovisual story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnVx-gcIt7A&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=2
 
Participants artists
 
Pep Agut
Meridiano de Madrid: sueño y mentira de Franco, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYVnAyimeKc&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=11
 
Alán Carrasco
Geschichtsaufarbeitung, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80eNmHf5MtA&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=20
 
Domènec
L’estadi, el pavelló i el palau, 2018
Arquitectura española 1939-1975: Belchite Nuevo i Vilanova de la Barca, 2014-2018
 
Marcelo Expósito
Los cuadernos de guerra o ligeramente descontextualizados, 1994/2021
Constitución Española de 1978 desnudada por sus solteros, 2022
Constitución Española de 1978 recombinada, 2022
Constitución Española de 1978 reescrita mediante el método cut-up a la manera de Pierre Menard, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHqOEVqqVgg&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=5
 
Dora García
La bolchevique enamorada, 2021
Revolución cumple tu promesa, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhNPDkXJ93o&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=3
 
 
Maria Amparo Gomar Vidal
Objetos (Des)aparecidos, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3geKhdzmY4&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=6
 
Carles Guerra
Fragments anotats dels Films Tosquelles. Suite en noir et blanc i suite en couleur, 1953-2022
La nostra sardana, remuntada, 2022
Una novel·la familiar / Un error d’atribució, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIjnleMyUYs&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=14
 
Antoni Hervàs
La loba Agon, 2016
Copacabana I, II , 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OkeG5Z7S24&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=15
 
Concha Jerez
La fosca del mirall, 1997
Memoria oral silenciada, 2020
Textos autocensurados 1 y 2, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RGNO2gPvIY&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=12
 
 
Lola Lasurt Bachs
Ensayo para Deep Song, 2020-2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoQwdvz8FFs&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=16
 
Marco Noris
A la Frontera – 300 km, 25 dies, 198 mugues, 212 obres, 2017
Topònims de Frontera, 2022 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=habK4ZIh4rA&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=13
 
Ndong Obama
Ngoan Ntangan, 1994
 
Filiberto Obama Nsué
La guagua, 1985
Cargando agua para el baño del governador, 1986
La canción de la diarrea, 1989
 
Ana Teresa Ortega
Lugares del saber y exilio científico, 2008-2018
 
María Ruido
La memoria interior, 2002
ElectroClass, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEu--bUsJzY&list=PLmg70TK2CzGvP9ADyfkZ6BkR2z1oErB3G&index=23
 
Jaume Serra Torelló i Joan Anton Serra Ollé
Maquis 1940-1952, Agrupación Guerrillera de Levante y Aragón, 2004-2014
 
Francesc Torres
Amnèsia-Memòria, 1991
 
Guillem Viladot
Selecció d’obres del llibre Cantates, fugues i colls de la baralla (1972), 2022