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20/5/2005

Diaspora

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Vigo

Curated by Carlos López Bernárdez
145 works, Paintings and drawings, Photographs, Sculptures and a Film projections

One of the outlines of MARCO’s programmes from the very beginning is focused on providing an annual exhibition based on a research project exploring the recent past of plastic art work in Galicia. Its target is to encourage historical reviews and the revival of artists or Galician artistic movements tightly related to the languages of avant-garde. The outcome of this approach was the opening exhibition Atlántica, 2002-2003, followed by A creación do necesario. Aproximación ao deseño do século XX en Galicia in 2004. In 2005, research interests will be focused on the important consequences the Latin American Diaspora had on the work of the ten most important Galician artists of the twentieth century.

The history of Galicia is inevitably linked to the term Diaspora. The exodus of Galician people has been an ongoing trend since the end of the nineteenth century, a process that speeded up with the civil war exile, and finished off with the massive emigration in the sixties. Such a flight of people, not only exiles but also refugees and emigrants, had immediate consequences to Galician culture. There was a brain drain of outstanding figures on the fields of art and literature, who otherwise could have carried out prolific work in their own country. The side effect in the long term was the influence of this Diaspora in the artistic work of the descendants of the Galician people born outside the country.

One of the outlines of MARCO’s programmes from the very beginning is focused on providing an annual exhibition based on a research project exploring the recent past of plastic art work in Galicia. Its target is to encourage historical reviews and the revival of artists or Galician artistic movements tightly related to the languages of avant-garde. The outcome of this approach was the opening exhibition Atlántica, 2002-2003, followed by A creación do necesario. Aproximación ao deseño do século XX en Galicia in 2004. In 2005, research interests will be focused on the important consequences the Latin American Diaspora had on the work of the ten most important Galician artists of the twentieth century.

The history of Galicia is inevitably linked to the term Diaspora. The exodus of Galician people has been an ongoing trend since the end of the nineteenth century, a process that speeded up with the civil war exile, and finished off with the massive emigration in the sixties. Such a flight of people, not only exiles but also refugees and emigrants, had immediate consequences to Galician culture. There was a brain drain of outstanding figures on the fields of art and literature, who otherwise could have carried out prolific work in their own country. The side effect in the long term was the influence of this Diaspora in the artistic work of the descendants of the Galician people born outside the country.

By means of research carried out into Galician culture abroad —in its plastic, literary and film dimension— this exhibition aims to provide new keys for the better understanding of the history of Galician art in the twentieth century. It gathers the data required to put together a different historiography, which could serve as an alternative to the official academic rhetoric, taking into account the significance of exile and its consequences to the development of Galician culture. Further to any social-political theory, the goal is to put on record the way in which the political and social-economic situation of a given community plays a key role in the emergence and shaping of a cultural identity. Nowadays, it is not possible to think about Galicia without taking into account its Diaspora.

The aim of the exhibition is not to take stock of the Galician somehow related to the cultural movement in the exile —there would be a long list of renowned artists, such as Francisco Vázquez Díaz “Compostela”, Federico Ribas, Xosé Caridad Mateos, Laxeiro, Abreu Bastos, Mario Granell, Mercedes Ruibal or Leopoldo Novoa, among others. However, the main goal is to approach for the first time a collective phenomenon that has never been studied as such, through a deep insight into ten significant artists. Besides, it must be emphasized the fact that, though the exhibiting artists are widely known, this is the first all-embracing view taken on the effect of the Diaspora in their plastic art work. Moreover, this exhibition will bring to light forgotten artworks of these artists —some of them for the first time— showing their social commitment in the times prior to the Spanish Republic and during the Civil War.

The reflection of three historical times (pre-war, war and the American imprint) are the essential criteria followed for the selection of the exhibited artworks. Thus, three are the main subject matters suggested by the artworks and the accompanying bibliographical data: the war experience, the homesickness felt for the country left behind, and the influence the new land had on the vision of these artists on the realities of America.

As for the installation, it is organized around three main topics: on the first place, 47 selected artworks—including painting, sculpture and photography—; on the second place, 43 graphic documents —posters, books, leaflets and reproductions of books in a digital format— providing information about the different activities undertaken by these artists during the Diaspora, stressing the relationship between plastic and literary artists. It puts special emphasis on the exile, because during this period most of the books could only be published as a result of the joint efforts of writers and artists. Some of these creations stand as the best representations of Galician culture in the twentieth century. Among all the cultural activities carried out by the exiles, it is remarkable the literary movement that arose in Buenos Aires, of which Luis Seoane and Lorenzo Varela —commemorated on this year’s Day of Galician Literature— are excellent representatives. Finally, the third topic of the exhibition will explore cinema and photography by Galician artists in Latin America, including photographs by José Suarez and a series of films by Carlos Velo screened on the conference hall.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

MARCO and the CGAI (Centro Galego das Artes da Imaxe) will organize a series of films and talks devoted to the artist Carlos Velo as part of this exhibition.

This series will be inaugurated on the 26th May with the following talk:

Talk: “O cine galego na diáspora”, by Miguel Anxo Fernández
When: Thursday 26th May, 8 p.m.
Where: Conference hall

Monographic film series: “CARLOS VELO”
La ciudad y el campo, by Carlos Velo, 1934; Almadrabas, by Carlos Velo and Fernando G. Mantilla, 1935; Felipe II y el Escorial, by Carlos Velo and Fernando G. Mantilla, 1935; Galicia, by Carlos Velo and Fernando G. Mantilla, 1936; Romancero marroquí, by Carlos Velo and Enrique Domínguez Rodino, 1939; Vieiros, by Laura Gardós, 1939

When: 26th, 27th and 28th May; 2nd, 3rd and 4th June; 9th, 10th and 11th June, 8 p.m.
Where: Conference hall

Artists:

Ángel Botello [Ángel Botello Barros] (Cangas do Morrazo, Pontevedra, Spain 1913 - San Juan de Puerto Rico, 1986)

Arturo Souto [Arturo Souto Feijoo] (Pontevedra, Spain, 1902 - Mexico, 1964)

Carlos Velo [Carlos Velo Cobelas] (Pereiros, Cartelle, Ourense, Spain 1909 - Mexico D.F., 1988)

Castelao [Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao] (Rianxo, A Coruña, Spain, 1886 - Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1950)

Eugenio Granell [Eugenio Fernández Granell] (A Coruña, Spain 1912 - Madrid, Spain, 2001)

Isaac Díaz Pardo (Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1920)

José Suárez [José Suárez Fernández] (Allariz, Ourense, Spain, 1902 - A Guarda, Pontevedra, Spain 1974)

Luis Seoane [Luis Seoane López] (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1910 - A Coruña, Spain 1979)

Manuel Colmeiro [Manuel Colmeiro Guimarás] (Silleda, Pontevedra, Spain, 1901 - Salvaterra de Miño, Pontevedra, Spain, 1999)

Maruja Mallo [Ana María Gómez González] (Viveiro, Lugo, Spain 1902 - Madrid, Spain, 1995)

Organized by:
Produced by MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo, in partnership with Fundación Luis Seoane from A Coruña, and with the support of CGAI, Centro Galego de Artes da Imaxe
SPONSORSHIP: Spanish Ministry of Culture
WITH THE SUPPORT OF Repsol YPF

MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporaneo
Rúa Príncipe, 54 36202 Vigo Galicia
Opening Times:
From Tuesday to Saturday (including holidays), from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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