SPAIN ACROSS THE YEARS. PART 2: FAULTLINES IN A VIBRANT DEMOCRACY »
Guernica, a powerful anti-war statement · Going through the battlegrounds of the Spanish Civil War where a historical walkabout could get booed · Casa Pepe, a sojourn into fascism and the Franco dictatorship · A new encounter with the Cordoba of the Three Cultures: "Relearning its exceptional period of harmony gave me hope, making my trip to Spain nothing less than epic."
HOW NOT TO BE A DUCHESS FOR LONG: Perpetual Nobles Wiped Out in One Fell Swoop »
"The perpetuity of the Spanish nobility is no empty phrase but it could become meaningless when the title that has been created and granted by a fascist is on a collision course with a legitimate government bent on righting a historic wrong"
PICASSO, PRESUMABLY THE GREATEST ANTI-WAR ARTIST OF ALL TIME, LIVES AGAIN! »
The French Minister of Culture: "Picasso's work continues to exert a real fascination throughout the world, abundant, inventive and often radical. It never ceases to be reread, revisited and reinterpreted. This formidable posterity is what the 1973-2023 Picasso Celebration aims to explore, question and share with a new generation born in the 21st century."
DON A CAPE AND WOW THE LADIES — AND GENTLEMEN! »
Part I of the Two-Part Seseña Capes Series. Warm and dashing, the capa española can be twirled haughtily around the wearer’s body twice or even three times. And Capas Seseña is the only establishment still existing in all Spain with a proud and single-minded dedication to the making of the classic Spanish cape, cut and sewn right there on the old turn-of-the-century premises. The traditional garment has been enchanting elegant national and international fashion audiences (and wearers, of course) unfailingly all these many years.
Lost Martha Graham Work in Paeon to the Spanish Civil War »
The collaboration by the New York-based Martha Graham Dance Company, the Los Angeles-based Wild Up chamber music collective and The Soraya Nazarin Center for the Performing Arts has produced a digital dance inspired by archival remnants of Martha Graham’s Immediate Tragedy, a solo she created in 1937 in response to the Spanish Civil War. Drawing on the common experience of today’s global pandemic, the 22 artists creating the project are collaborating from locations across the U.S. and Europe using a variety of technologies to coordinate movement, music and digital design. The new digital Immediate Tragedy premiered online Friday, June 19 on The Soraya Facebook page, and Saturday, June 20 at the Martha Matinee on the Graham Company’s YouTube Channel.
HOW THE GOOD OLD SPANISH TWO-PARTY SYSTEM GOT CLOBBERED »
In just a decade, the predictable two-party environment in Spain fractured into a wide breadth of parties and ideologies and may never revert to the what-had-once-been. This will certainly make for a more chaotic system, but a more interesting one as well.
Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away »
Walking through the chilling maze of photos and artifacts and hearing the stories at the Exhibition takes a lot out of a person, as we are forced to comprehend the atrocities that our fellow humans are capable of committing. However, at the end of the exhibit there is also hope: videos play of survivors describing the importance of love and acceptance and warning visitors of what is at stake if we dare to forget the past. For Spain, a country that is still working on coming to terms with its own past, this warning seems especially relevant
GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “THE HOME OF A POET”, 20 February 1987 (PART 1) »
In spring, the almond blossom competes in brilliance against the snow-crested peaks beyond. Suddenly, like a pencil line sharply delimiting the green lushness of this veritable oasis, the earth turns ochre-arid, supporting only the hardy olive. This is the presence and imagery that permeates the verse of its best-loved son and barb, Federico García Lorca: the viento verde of the undulating corn, long solitary walks through melancholy rain-filled afternoons, y el fondo un campo de nieve…home of the poet.
GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “The Home of a Poet”, 20 February 1987 (Part 2) »
The silence is heavy with the presence of so much life in this household, by all accounts filled with voices, laughter and music. What conversations did Federico enjoy here with his sisters and his musical and literary friends? The poet himself was an accomplished pianist and Manuel de Falla was certainly among the most assiduous visitors here. There is the unavoidable feeling that everyone has stepped out, and will be back in a few minutes.
THE BASQUE COUNTRY & THE VASCOS – 3 (Guernica, the Path to Terror at the Reina Sofia Museum) »
"Guernica, a terrifying mural oil painting of greys, whites, and blacks, was Picasso’s response to the aerial bombing of Guernica, a town in the Basque Country. With Guernica he took a leap into political discourse, reflecting the tremendous events that unfolded in the Basque town"
