June 6 / 6 p.m. / at the Cervantes Institute in Krakow
The Cervantes Institute in Krakow invites you to the exhibition "Wonderful Decade. A Living Constitution," which is a selection of photographs by prominent Spanish photojournalist Benito Román from 1975-1985.
The death of Franco, the transition from a dictatorship that lasted nearly four decades to democracy, the first parliamentary elections and a new constitution, the Movida revolution of morals... In the history of Spain over the last century, it is difficult to find a period richer in social, economic and political events.
Spain was breaking free of its authoritarian regime and entering an era of democracy, and photojournalist Benito Román looked at these changes "from behind the scenes," trying to capture everyday events, seemingly uninteresting and absent from the headlines. Over time, his photos have become one of the best visual testimonies of the times.
Román portrays the everyday life of ordinary people, highlighting the contrast between so-called real life and the world of politics, clergy and business. His photos are a sentimental, if not ironic, depiction of an era that includes neighborhoods of poverty and skyscrapers, trade unionists and businessmen, laymen and priests, heroes and villains. Twentysomething mayors, Catholic clairvoyants, neighborhood activists, iconic actors and politicians, altar boys, futurologists and children are just some of the characters captured in photographs imbued with an extraordinary sense of observation and humor.
In the words of the exhibition's curator, photographer and journalist Chema Conesa, it is "a portrait of a wonderful decade in which we Spaniards believed in ourselves." The passage of time has highlighted the honesty of the photos, created not so much for artistic purposes as for documentation. The resulting mirror effect makes it possible to reflect on a relatively recent reality that today seems extremely distant. Yet it contains a trace of all that Spain was and all that it remains today.
The exhibition can be seen from June 6 to August 23.
Opening hours in June: Monday to Friday,10:00-18:00
