Caliza

Caliza (limestone)

Several years ago, a member of my family found an old box full of negatives. They were made in the 1920s and 30s by my great-grandmother’s brother, and documented rural life in the south of Spain. I was particularly amazed by a number of portraits of strong women with powerful poses and gazes.

The main purpose of this body of work was to draw attention to the incomprehensible invisibility of women in the historiography of Spanish rural agrarianism and history in general. Also to reflect on the importance of rural women as political and historical subjects and their contribution to political, economic, and social transformations. Unfortunately, History has focused on men as the only ” subjects” of social change, placing women as passive observers of rural modernization.

As an artist who is interested in gender roles and cultural traditions, I have created a series of photographs inspired by the archive. I highlight women’s strengths, their control over repressive symbols, and their self-determination; contributing to the creation of a space for reflection and showing that this group is no longer “triple invisible” because they are women, rural, and workers.

The project is located in Carcabuey, the small village where the archive was found, with the aesthetic of this still very traditional place, serving as an improvisational stage for my imagination. In a sense, I am creating a temporary and symbolic experience that shows the present but at the same time makes reference to the past.

Caliza—the project’s title—refers to the characteristic limestone that is found in the Subbetic Sierras of southern Spain, where these works have been photographed. Caliza is a strong and permeable stone that is also thought to be organic due to its composition of skeletal fragments of marine organisms. To walk through these limestone mountains and villages is to read, almost on each stone, both a living and symbolic history—one that is tough, resistant, resilient, and layered.