Project exhibition No Estem Sol*s
Barcelona
25.05.2021
On May 25, took place the opening of the exhibition of the project No Estem Sol*s (We Are Not Alone) at the civic center Joan Oliver “Pere Quart”, which can be visited during the opening hours of the center until June 25.
No Estem Sol*s is a social project that was born during 2020 with the aim of strengthening the links of citizenship with the elderly of the District of les Corts, using art as a tool for transformation. In response to this context of isolation that the elderly have suffered during the pandemic, the District of Les Corts commissioned us to produce the project No Estem Sol*s, an artistic initiative that pays tribute to this group and, at the same time, proposes new ways to represent the elderly in the public space.
The event was opened by the councilor Manuel Becerra, who explained the project, followed by the three professionals of the project, Carlos Márquez, Laura Abad and Octavi Serra, who took the opportunity to thank the protagonists for their participation and emphasize the importance of making visible and giving a voice to the elderly. After the projection of the documentary video that explained the development of the project, María Victoria García – who participated on the project – took the floor. She spoke very closely about her life in the neighborhood and the thousands of activities she carries out, not without mentioning that the group of elderly people needs support, but not the overprotection they often receive, since, like her, many of them participate actively in the life of the neighborhood.
The event was not only an opportunity to thank all the participants, but it was also a good excuse for the protagonists to get to know each other, and to meet to Carlos Márquez with whom they had telephone conversations of more than an hour to prepare the interviews or Octavi Serra, who was responsible for reproducing their portraits throughout the neighborhood of les Corts.
Free entry from 25/05 up until 25/06/2021.
In the video, how No estem sol*s came about in the middle of lockdown and how it was made: listening first, with a minimal script, «absolutely convinced that they all had a story, and a good story, to tell». The photographer explains the two kinds of portrait, and the installation was done with laser-cut stencils and a map of specific points.
Video transcript (translated from Catalan)3 min 18 s
The No estem sol*s project came about when lockdown started and we began to realise we were stuck at home, that we were not doing any of the projects we used to do in the street, and we started thinking about what we could do in public space to give visibility to certain groups. And it was at exactly that moment that the district got in touch to commission a project about older people.
The first thing we had to do was listen, and we went in with barely any script: I was absolutely convinced that they all had a story, and a good story, to tell.
My role as a photographer on this project was, on the one hand, to take a series of portraits that were all very similar in terms of light and framing, so that the screenprints that would go out into the street could be made from them; and, on the other, to take a series of portraits that portrayed that particular person. It was a personal contact I had with them, and from there I tried, in a small way, to reflect them.
—If they see us, they will know we exist, that we are here and that we have had enough courage and enough strength to make ourselves visible, which is the way to make many other people visible.
The material arrived, the stencils were laser-cut and then it was a matter of driving from one place to another with a map that already had the very specific points where I had to work: very small interventions, but a great many of them. The district, through that listening, ends up encountering these elements, these people and these messages. Working on projects that can have a social impact is essential for me, because it makes me feel more useful.
In the end it was about generating a dynamic in which people could recognise one another and generate more of a neighbourhood, so that older people were not so alone and felt more included. Valuing older people always in a positive light, and for everything they can still do for us.
Video transcript, edited for reading: repetitions and verbal fillers have been removed, the text has been punctuated and speakers are identified.
