Spanish Echoes
I believe that Spain is emerging as one of the greatest cultures. The Latin Grammys in Seville are the tip of an iceberg, a mass of ice held up by artists who have opened their homes to showcase clothes hanging on facades, tiled patios, or granite stone walls, and dusted off the stories, melodies, and visillos of those who created the rhythm of our lullabies.
From music to fashion, from cinema to literature, Spain is filling itself with its essence, and the world likes it. I'm not talking about getting cocky and reveling in the idea that there is a theme park about Spain in Japan; far from it, it's something simpler. I'm talking about the fact that the tendency to point to Mexico on a map when talking about Spain is becoming less frequent. That's because of those who are taking us on their vinyls and bullfighter hats to places where there was no room before for La Flores talking about glitter, or where clapping could only be used as applause, and yes, I'm talking about Mestiza. This Spanish DJ duo, composed of Belah and Pitty Bernad, have found a niche where they can bring the clapping, the guitar, and our words to black and blue rooms full of glasses and water bottles. The Manchegan and the Andalusian join forces, not only to remind us that there are quejidos that can only come from a place where windmills are giants but also to recreate a female figure of altar and bullring. Both go a step further and make use of the traditional aesthetics and Spanish folklore to create a complete image of their art. Our history dresses and styles them, giving them peinetas and mantillos; bullfighter's jackets and barber's baciás; Manila shawls and ruffs with birretes, that when united, create two figures of power where the woman and her strength are the protagonists.
Curro Martinez, their stylist, uses the classic forms not only of dress but also of the cult and history of our country. He undoes to re-create in Unction. Tradition and Metaverso, the virgins, the nuns, the whores, and the penitents come together in silhouettes almost out of the world of wonders. He surrounds them with worn facades, chickens, and sand, making you believe that only there they can make sense. Originally from Seville and only 21 years old, he is the one to blame for the fact that Mestiza doesn't stop at the musical level but rises as a complete artistic ensemble, represented by the strong and traditional woman. Their style gives them a great presence behind the solid walls that are usually the DJ sets, by means of Cordovan hats, fans, and fringes. After an early education dedicated to art and marked by a culture as rich as Andalusia's, he decided to go one step further and study Fashion Design and Management. At university, he met Isabel, one of the members of the musical duo who, upon observing how her young student decided on an aesthetic nourished by the Spanish imaginary and tradition, saw that he could fit in with her project. Thus began a collaboration that "started in April as a few floor-length outfits for various events, and ended up being an experience for the whole summer," as the designer tells us.
The Sevillian wanted to give shape to the music they created, where the traditional and the contemporary come together to remind us that our art does not die; it is transformed. The most traditional aspects of our culture become a reference, and "an example of this is the video clip 'En un lugar de la mancha', which was filmed in the windmills of Campo de Criptana and the styles made reference to Don Quixote, using elements as representative as the baciás". It thus creates a bridge and a return to the elements that mark our literature and its imaginary.
The whole Mestiza project is a first step, bringing together ancient and contemporary forms to create a personal aesthetic. This concept is taken to the next level with the Unction project, a collection that creates through three images, Dolores, María, and Juana, a religious-penitent cycle of Spanish women. The image and tradition of mourning and death in Spain is very strong, and Unaction is able to configure it in a single image. The artist describes the three figures in stages, Dolores being the first, created from "closed and dark silhouettes, evoking punishment and the figure of mourning"; followed by María, who "represents baptism, the transition to purity and innocence through clean lines and more sinuous silhouettes"; and finally Juana, who represents "resurrection, taking tradition to the metaverse with dystopian designs, fabrics, and colors that radiate hope". This project can be seen in the short film, “Unction, Tradition, and Metaverse,” created by Manu Conejero together with Curro Martínez, where the figures acquire a space in which to dialogue with them and understand them.
This young designer is yet another example of how our culture is rising up to create new forms with which we can continue to feel identified, without letting them stagnate in a past that people do not reach. Spain has rediscovered what moves it, its art, and I hope that its representatives will continue to wear their hats high and look bravely at those who are watching.
