Mediterranean

Aires has salvaged wood from the remains of abandoned dinghies and cayucos found on the Spanish coast: in particular, the boat graveyard in Cádiz, where many of the vessels used in the illegal transportation of immigrants end up. The viewer, walking on this impeccably geometric wooden surface, soon discovers that it has been constructed with the remains of illegal boats in which people from the African continent have tried, successfully or not, to make the European dream a reality, thus linking the formal qualities of the piece in a direct and material way to the human tragedy experienced in the Mediterranean in recent years. ‘It’s not easy to accept that you’re casually walking on a wooden floor made up of the remains of dinghies and cayucos from the largest graveyard in the world for boats used in illegal transportation. Especially since it is so outrageously beautiful.’ (Javier Díaz-Guardiola: ‘Meter la herida en el dedo’, ABC Cultural, 13 March 2017). 

The collection held by the archive was assembled by Xavier Miserachs over the course of his professional life. Towards the end of the 1980s Miserachs himself organized the negatives and contact sheets with the help of historian Maria Dolors Tapias Gil. This organization has been maintained up to the present and illustrates the documentary materials’ relevance for the photographer, and of special note are the documents associated with the photobook Barcelona. Blanc i negre.

How is the myth of the Mediterranean expressed? When did it begin? What interests does it serve? How has it changed as a result of each new wave of modernity? These reflections rooted in history will become the basis for exploring possible cultural articulations between countries considered to be part of the Christian tradition and those of the Arab world, and to outline some possible scenarios of our future.

For their 1976 series of collaborative works executed in Cadaqués and titled the Collaborations of Ch. Rotham, Dieter Roth and Richard Hamilton recorded Canciones de Cadaqués, a double 7” 45 rpm vinyl record. The record is carried out the same way as the series of paintings and thus consists of an original (Barks from Cadaqués) and a certificate (Hundelieder). On the original both artists alternately perform the vocals and accompaniment on guitar, while on the certificate Chispas Luís, a Cadaqués dog noted for his bark, contributed the vocals to guitar backing by either Hamilton or Roth.

Ariella Azoulay (Tel Aviv, 1962) teaches visual culture and contemporary philosophy in the Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies program at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. Her numerous publications in Hebrew and English include Death's Showcase: The Power of Image in Contemporary Democracy (MIT Press, 2001, winner of the Infinity Award for Writing, International Center for Photography), Once Upon A Time: Photography Following Walter Benjamin (Bar-Ilan University Press, 2006) and The Civil Contract of Photography (MIT Press, 2008), which examines the relationship between photography and citizenship and the spectator's civil responsibility in disaster contexts. She has also curated exhibitions and written and directed several films.

Yto Barrada was born in Paris in 1971 and educated in Tangier. She later studied history and political science at the Sorbonne, Paris, and photography at the International Centre of Photography in New York. Her recent exhibitions of photography and video include Art Dubai, at the Fowler Museum (Los Angeles), the MoMA (San Francisco and New York), Jeu de Paume (Paris) and the 2007 Venice Biennale. In 2006, Barrada was awarded the first Ellen Auerbacj Award in Berlin and was shorlisted for the Deutsche Boerse Photography Prize. Her book A Life Full of Holes - The Strait Project was published by Autograph ABP in 2005. She is the artistic director and co-founder of the Cinémathèque de Tànger.

The "Tawfik Saleh" cinema series program presents a selection of works by Egyptian filmmaker, one of the representatives of modern Arabic anti-colonial intelligentsia. The films have been selected by North American artist of Palestinian descent Fareed Armaly, who is preparing a documentary on Saleh's most influential film "Al-majdu’un" (1972)