The exhibition 'popular music: a photographic vision' is available for viewing in Guadarrama until 11 November. Part of the ITINER Network of the Community of Madrid, it presents a selection of traditional Spanish photography spanning a century from 1850 to 1965.
This collection invites visitors to explore popular music, its artists, musical instruments, dances, and traditions that gained significant social and cultural recognition during this period. The exhibition features works by renowned photographers of the time, including Clifford, Laurent, Alfonso, and Santos Yubero, alongside notable popular photographers such as Casiano Alguacil, Luis Escobar, and Baltasar Cue.
Additionally, some of the most emblematic musical instruments of the popular musical heritage, such as dulzainas and castanets, are displayed, their sounds transcending the photographic medium. Musician Joaquín Díaz has likened tradition to a river: "The banks correspond to the limits of popular culture, and the flow represents all that knowledge, accumulating over the centuries in a powerful current."
To delve into the inexhaustible flow of Spanish popular music, photography serves as the most effective language to reconstruct our shared memory. The aim of this exhibition is to showcase a part of the history of traditional Spanish photography over a century, from the days of the daguerreotype to the eve of the democratic transition.
This century saw popular music achieve notable social and cultural recognition, driven by the identity claims of Romanticism and the pioneering work of musicians and intellectuals such as Perfecto Feijoo, Agapito Marazuela, Menéndez Pidal, Manuel de Falla, Federico García Lorca, and the members of the Pedagogical Missions of the Second Republic, along with Julio Caro Baroja and other prominent figures who inspired the Choirs and Dances of the Women's Section.
The exhibition can be enjoyed at the exhibition hall of the Casa de Cultura Alfonso X el Sabio until 11 November, with visiting hours from 16:00 to 21:00, Monday to Friday.
