Las espadas (the swords) / Pedro G. Romero / Projects / àngels barcelona

Pedro G. Romero

(Aracena, 1964)

Las espadas (the swords), 2017

11 videos on mobile devices, multichannel broadcast, free bluetooth download
Variable dimensions. In collaboration with: Idoia Zabaleta, Mónica Valenciano, Sonia Sánchez, Niño de Elche, Isaías Griñolo, Israel Galván, Javiera de la Fuente, Ines Doujak, Bobote, Miguel Benlloch y Marco de Ana

(ENG) Las espadas (The swords) is a work, which has been growing since 2016 within the framework of the Archive F.X. In this case, it belongs to Pure violence: αἴσθησις, a project developed in Donostia / San Sebastián for the exhibition program of Treaty of Peace. More or less this is its taxonomy, fitting in the body of work by the author Pedro G. Romero but, in fact, it has been done without knowing the nature of what is being produced. The ezpata-dantza are popular dances from the Basque country and, in other parts of the world, where they are also being performed, these are called sword dances. No doubt that the political mythology that the Basque nationalists have sublimated around these community dances is important, but we are not going to stop now in these ideological marks. My guests only had to take a sword and portray themselves with it whilst dancing, with a gesture, with a bullfighting sword movement. Israel Galván was the first to point out the swordish nature of the selfie stick, that fencing nightmare that haunts tourists, friends reunions and family gatherings, aimed at the modern devices for capturing vision. With the selfie stick new relationships and connections emerge. The dancers don’t know each other and are already part of this community of swordsmen. Nor do I want to dwell on the deep relationships between choreography and military life, nor on how violence is always a sort of choreutics. In short, violence often creates a community, it’s important not to forget that, but our interest here is in that which is common; that which is entertained already in aesthetic games, in recognizing each other with the gestures of the others. Because the question that we now care about is the role of Pedro G. Romero in all this. Is he a curator, an author, a cultural entertainer? This last meaning ridiculously underscores the relevance of the question itself.

(CAST) Las espadas es un trabajo nuevo, va creciendo desde el 2016 en el entorno de trabajos del Archivo F.X., en este caso, pertenece al proyecto Una violencia pura: αἴσθησις, desarrollado en Donostia/San Sebastián dentro del ciclo de exposiciones Tratado de paz. Más o menos esa es su taxonomía, su encaje dentro del corpus de obras del autor Pedro G. Romero pero, en realidad, se hace sin saber la naturaleza de los que se hace. Las ezpata-dantza son bailes populares llamados así en el país Vasco y bailes de espadas en el resto del mundo, donde se ejecutan. Sin duda es importante la mitología política que los nacionalistas vascos han sublimado en torno a estos bailes comunitarios pero no vamos a detenernos ahora en estas marcas ideológicas.

Pedro G Romero, "Las espadas" (2017). Installation view.

Detail. Pedro G Romero, "Las espadas" (2017).

Pedro G Romero, "Las espadas" (2017). Installation view.

Video still of the sword of Idoia Zabaletan: Al da Ezpata dantza. Video, color, sound, 2' 33''

Video still of the sword by Bobote. Video, color, sound, 1' 16''

Video still of the sword by Miguel Benlloch: El florete en la floresta. Video, color, sound, 1' 34''

Video still of the sword by Sonia Sánchez: Filo improvisado. Video, color, sound, 6' 26''

Video still of the sword by Isaías Griñolo: La espada con la espada. Video, color, sound, 1' 14''

Video still of the sword by Israel Galván: Sword in India. Video, color, sound, 3' 29''

Video still of the sword by Javiera de la Fuente: La pacificación de la Araucania. Video, color, sound, 6' 12''

Video still of the sword by Monica Valenciano, Video, color, sound, 8' 14''

Video still of the sword by Marco de Ana: Pelea. Video, color, sound, 1' 24''

Video still of the sword by Ines Doujak: Video, color, sound, 35''

Video still of the sword by El Niño de Elche. Video, color, sound, 50''