Cabello/Carceller "A/O (Caso Céspedes)" Open Screen. Works from the MACBA Collection

Elena/o de Céspedes was born in Granada in the 16th century and lived between Andalusia and Castile. Born as an enslaved mixed-race woman, she lived as a man and got married by the Church to a woman. S/he was a surgeon. Helena Cabello and Ana Carceller construct a contemporary visual fiction about this historic character. A present-day protagonist of undefined gender, who at times acts as the historic character’s alter ego, allows them to open up the debate about transgender sexualities and the role that race and slavery played in Spanish collective identity.