«I experience memory as something fragile and precious that must be preserved at all costs.»

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Jesús Gómez was born in Madrid in 1987 and grew up in Valencia, where the light, rhythm, and atmosphere of the Mediterranean left a lasting mark on him. In 2009, he moved to Germany, where new experiences and perspectives began to shape his artistic journey.

His work moves freely between media — from analog photography to video, objects, and installations. What ties it all together is his curiosity about people, society, and identity. Through a mix of self-reflection, irony, humor, and sometimes a hint of bitterness, Jesús explores what it means to be human — touching on themes like resilience, acceptance, and hope.

Each project is an invitation to look a little deeper, to sit with discomfort, and to discover something honest and emotional along the way.

– You were born in Madrid, grew up in Valencia, and have lived in Germany since 2009. How did living in these three places feel, and how have they influenced your work?

When your family migrates during your childhood, you end up identifying, in part, with something from each place, but without truly feeling rooted anywhere. On top of that, the family nucleus tends to shrink considerably in these circumstances, since the rest of them are scattered across the country and, over the years, contact is lost. That makes you aware that your family network is very small and your support extremely limited. In some way, you understand that you will be alone once your parents are gone.

I remember how some of my Valencian friends’ families would gather in huge groups on Sundays to eat paella at their grandparents’ house. To me, it felt like a strange family ritual which I observed with a mixture of curiosity and admiration.

At the same time, that lack of roots and sense of cultural orphanhood makes the decision to emigrate or detach oneself from a place much easier. It is like moving through life with very light luggage that you could leave behind anywhere. When I first arrived in Germany, I remember struggling to understand the homesickness of other migrants in my situation — young, without children in their country of origin. It was difficult for me, and in some ways it still is, to empathize with the sadness of being far away from the place where one grew up. For me, learning how to navigate a new environment was a source of joy.

Work in progress of Reisfeld am Abend (Rice Field at Dusk) by Jesús Gómez

Over time, I came to understand that my parents never truly felt at home in Valencia. They had not felt accepted there, and that led them not to make great efforts to adapt. They had been waiting for the moment when work — or the lack of it — would allow them to return to Salamanca, where they believed they would finally feel comfortable. They passed on to me that sense of being only temporarily somewhere, which shaped my development and fostered the detachment that later proved so useful when I emigrated.

In the work Reisfeld am Abend (Rice Field at Dusk), for example, I play with the symbols that, for me, represent folkloric excess and my family’s failed attempt to adapt to Valencia. That same ironic and self-critical undertone runs through almost all my work, though I do not always channel it in such an explicitly personal way.

«That lack of roots and sense of cultural orphanhood makes the decision to emigrate or detach oneself from a place much easier.»

«It was difficult for me, and in some ways it still is, to empathize with the sadness of being far away from the place where one grew up.»

– When did you first become interested in art?

I came to art indirectly and almost by accident. I grew up in a social environment where what mattered was studying something and getting a job. Culture was not a passion but a means of making a living. Art seemed reserved for institutions like the Prado or the Louvre — something very distant from the life of an ordinary person. Contemporary art, meanwhile, was supposedly the realm of eccentric millionaires and their absurdities.

Despite this, I was deeply curious about art history. As a kid, whenever I was in Madrid, I would take every opportunity to visit the Prado. I would usually head straight to The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch. In that subversive work, I saw confirmation that not all art had to be so elitist.

As a teenager, I strongly identified with hip-hop culture: out of place, hungry for novelty, and widely rejected by elitist circles. At the time, hip-hop was still far from mainstream. Through it, I met people like myself — people who dared to engage in other sports than football and believed in alternative forms of expression.

After experimenting with different creative fields, and with emigration already behind me, I eventually became deeply interested in analogue photography. Equipment and materials in Germany were relatively affordable compared to Spain, and there was a very strong analogue photography culture. I ended up dedicating myself to it obsessively. The analogue, the tangible, offered endless possibilities, and I wanted to explore every single one of them.

Photography was the perfect bridge between someone without artistic training and the world of art. A photographer is not automatically considered an artist, and photography enjoys much greater legitimacy as a commercial or professional activity. It is also easier to explain to people why you want to devote yourself to photography than to justify why you make performances or conceptual art installations. In that way, I avoided crossing the enormous psychological barrier that prevents so many people from defining themselves as artists.

Very quickly, however, the themes I explored and my work in series made it clear that I was moving closer to artistic practice than to any other genre. At the same time, photography as a medium was becoming technically insufficient for the kind of conceptual work I aspired to do, forcing me to work across other media.

Even so, for a long time I hesitated when explaining that I worked as an artist. I suppose I felt embarrassed, or perhaps I did not entirely believe it myself.

It was ultimately thanks to Hanover’s cultural environment — whose artistic scene I consider highly permeable and tolerant — and thanks to artist friends who supported me and believed in me — painter Pepa Salas Vilar played a decisive role here — that I was finally able to accept myself as an artist.

«After experimenting with different creative fields, and with emigration already behind me, I eventually became deeply interested in analogue photography.»

«Photography was the perfect bridge between someone without artistic training and the world of art. A photographer is not automatically considered an artist, and photography enjoys much greater legitimacy as a commercial or professional activity.»

– You work across different disciplines, from analogue photography to installation, video, and object-making. What motivates you to choose one medium or another for each work, and what is your creative process like?

For some time, I was afraid of multidisciplinarity and became quite a purist, dedicating myself exclusively to photography. Sometimes I would reject or alter an original idea simply because I was unable to communicate it through a purely photographic medium. That caused me a great deal of frustration. It felt wrong.

At some point, I understood that the purpose of the work had to prevail over the medium, and that if classical photography could not fully satisfy that purpose, then an alternative had to be chosen. This shift was reinforced by series in which the objects or structures created to be photographed ended up becoming more significant than the photograph itself.

The work Sollbruchstellenverursacher* (Maker of predetermined breaking point) marked a turning point. I spent a couple of years working on a structure made of eggshells designed to produce very specific effects within the photographic image. Once the object was completed, however, it conveyed the irony of the work far more powerfully than the Polaroids that resulted from it.

Polaroid photographs from the Sollbruchstellenverursacher project (Maker of predetermined breaking point) – Jesús Gómez

From that moment on, I gave myself permission to use the camera as only one part of the process — or to let it rest entirely until the next project in which it was truly needed.

My creative process is simple: at some point, an idea arrives — a trigger. At first, it is usually shapeless, confusing, without substance. If the idea is strong enough, it keeps burrowing into my mind, generating a kind of anxiety. It gradually takes form through notes, sketches on paper… During that process, it becomes clear which is the best medium to match the nature of this work.

If the idea is demanding — and they usually are — I first have to research and experiment with materials and formats, making one mistake after another before finding the right formula. Sometimes I leave the studio slamming the door behind me and spend the entire day obsessing over a possible solution. I can spend days running tests or discarding alternatives. And then, occasionally, just before falling asleep, in the shower, or while skating, a solution occurs to me — as improbable as it is obvious. If this “moment of illumination” arrives while I’m already in bed, I spend the night wired, thinking about how to put it into practice. Once I get to the studio and begin working, there’s no schedule: I work until my body gives out, or until I run into another seemingly impossible problem.

Once the work is finished, my mind rests at first — and then grows restless again, searching for the next challenge.

«My creative process is simple: at some point, an idea arrives — a trigger. At first, it is usually shapeless, confusing, without substance. If the idea is strong enough, it keeps burrowing into my mind, generating a kind of anxiety.»

«And then, occasionally, just before falling asleep, in the shower, or while skating, a solution occurs to me — as improbable as it is obvious. If this “moment of illumination” arrives while I’m already in bed, I spend the night wired, thinking about how to put it into practice. Once I get to the studio and begin working, there’s no schedule: I work until my body gives out, or until I run into another seemingly impossible problem.»

– You describe your work as autobiographical, but also deeply concerned with society and identity as central themes. What do these works reveal about you and your place in the world?

I think many artists are disgusted by social issues on a daily basis, but approach them from a more personal rather than public perspective. First, I need to understand what a particular problem, event, or injustice provokes in me, in order to return it to the outside world filtered through my insignificant point of view — which is, paradoxically, the only point of view that matters while you are looking at my work.

It is like one of those conversations at a bar where you and I solve the world’s problems: in that moment, in that place, only your opinion and mine matter. Perhaps we solve nothing, and perhaps you go home relieved — or even more furious — but not indifferent.

What matters is that this conversation takes place with every person who stands in front of the work, again and again. I do not know whether people will leave the exhibition space feeling relieved or not, but I will have achieved my goal if they do not remain indifferent. That is my small contribution to the world.

Identity, meanwhile, is a fascinating subject: subjective, malleable, confusing, dangerous. We use identity to avoid feeling alone, to belong to a group — but also to crush others, like a weapon that changes hands.

There is an immense amount left to explore around identity. And while we dissect the concept and its creative and destructive features, we move through life trying to find our own identity — and probably never truly finding it.

We are destined for identity failure, and I think that this is fantastic.

«First, I need to understand what a particular problem, event, or injustice provokes in me, in order to return it to the outside world filtered through my insignificant point of view — which is, paradoxically, the only point of view that matters while you are looking at my work.»

«I do not know whether people will leave the exhibition space feeling relieved or not, but I will have achieved my goal if they do not remain indifferent. That is my small contribution to the world.»

– Humour and irony — sometimes tinged with bitterness — are very present in your work. What drives that perspective in your creative practice?

I think this is directly connected to my personality. I complain a lot, I get angry very quickly, and I criticize everything — myself included. I use that dissatisfaction as a way of trying to change the things I dislike, whether in myself or in the world around me.

Irony and mockery are engines that allow all of this to move in a less painful way.

As we grow older, we learn that irrational anger leads nowhere good. A touch of irony and humour, on the other hand, can make existence a little more bearable.

I admire artists like the singer Nacho Vegas, who, without losing either their critical edge or their sense of hope, are able to explain perfectly that the world is terrible and that life hurts.

– You are currently incorporating found photographs from flea markets, etc. into your work. What is it like for you to work with images of unknown people, and how do you integrate them into your practice?

There is something absolutely fascinating about gaining access to other people’s memories. I experience memory as something fragile and precious that must be preserved at all costs.

This feeling becomes especially intense when I come across photographic archives that not even the person who used the camera had the chance to see before passing away. I have been collecting cameras for many years and, sometimes, when a camera comes into my hands, I find a half-finished roll of film inside. In this roll is someone’s unfinished work.

At other times, I get the cameras along with an entire arsenal of albums, negatives, or undeveloped film rolls. When I find this orphaned memory, it truly shakes me. I feel responsible for preserving those experiences, as though I owed something to the person who spent their life documenting everyday moments through photography, just as I do today.

«There is something absolutely fascinating about gaining access to other people’s memories. I experience memory as something fragile and precious that must be preserved at all costs.»

«I feel responsible for preserving those experiences, as though I owed something to the person who spent their life documenting everyday moments through photography, just as I do today.»

Very often, those rolls of film have deteriorated with time, and the memories they contain vanish forever. At other times, the images are still visible — perhaps damaged, but surviving: a newly purchased home, holidays in the Canary Islands, a brand new coat, a trip to Paris, or an excursion into the snow.

They are ordinary moments from a time when every photograph was expensive and the number of images one could take was extremely limited. Those people decided that this particular moment — and not another — was special, and they invite the viewer share in their excitement.

In the series Ausencias (Absences), I use some of these photographs as a starting point to construct a story in which a character is missing. They are fictional, altered memories —much like childhood memories, in which details become exaggerated or erased.

Within those memories there is always an element of loss, of longing. What is absent, what we cannot see, suddenly becomes more relevant than what remains present.

– Your work has been shown primarily in Germany, in private galleries and public exhibition spaces. How is the impact of your work, and what kind of collectors acquire it?

Responses to my work are very varied. My practice prioritises conceptual weight over a purely aesthetic reading, and it requires a certain amount of time to uncover what lies beneath the initial impression. Viewers do not always have the time or the energy to engage with it more deeply.

There is, however, a very specific type of collector who actively seeks the story behind the artwork — someone who is drawn precisely to more challenging works, to conflict.

I enjoy the idea that people can stand in front of one of my works and debate whether it is incredibly absurd or remarkably accurate — that they fail to agree and yet are equally right.

I think that is part of the game.

«My practice prioritises conceptual weight over a purely aesthetic reading, and it requires a certain amount of time to uncover what lies beneath the initial impression.»

«I enjoy the idea that people can stand in front of one of my works and debate whether it is incredibly absurd or remarkably accurate — that they fail to agree and yet are equally right.»

– In the studio-gallery you share in Hanover with artist Katrin Hamann, you organize international open calls for artists. How did you become cultural managers and how do you develop this work?

Both Katrin and I had separate studios before this project, and we shared one conviction: a belief in the importance of making art accessible, in collaboration between artists and cultural agents, and in actively promoting our own work.

Each of us organized exhibitions in our respective studios, regularly inviting other artists to participate. Hanover is a relatively large city, but within the artistic niche everyone knows each other. I had exhibited in her studio, and she in mine.

Katrin — whose drive and energy are remarkable — wanted to push this idea further. For that purpose, she secured an extraordinary building, which she began renovating largely with her own hands. In doing so, she founded Hannover Art Connecting. Her vision was to use it both as a project space and as a studio for herself and another artist.

I joined the project later and moved my own studio there.

We organize around four to five events each year. Sometimes artists approach us independently with exhibition proposals. Sometimes, we launch open calls or directly invite participants.

The initiative began in 2024 and has been very warmly received. It gives us enormous joy to see how our environment — and even our own artistic practices — become enriched through collaboration with other artists, and to witness how positively neighbours and visitors respond to the exhibitions we organize.

Work in progress for the artwork Esto es una fiesta! in the studio – Jesús Gómez

– Where are you heading next, and what projects are you currently developing?

At the moment, I am developing the series of intervened cyanotypes I mentioned earlier, Ausencias (Absences).

When I first began working on it, I imagined it would be a relatively short and straightforward series. Instead, experimentation and fortunate accidents have allowed the work to keep expanding, maturing, and gradually taking control of itself, almost as though it possessed a will of its own.

What I can say with absolute certainty is that I deeply miss photographing more frequently, and that I want to return soon to studio work and darkroom practice.

The past three years have been rather turbulent — a mixture of many good and many difficult moments, compounded by relocating the studio — and to navigate them, I have had to focus my practice on projects already underway.

I always carry a camera with me and never hesitate to use it. I also have an enormous archive of street photography — a genre I have defended since my beginnings — that continues to grow year after year and will eventually have to come to light.

But I miss poetic and conceptual photography with every passing day.

– What is your life in Germany like?

Wherever you live, life blows hurt the same, bills still have to be paid, a bad coffee can ruin your day, and a kind word can make it better.

What truly makes a difference are the codes: the instruction manual for moving through society.

You learn how to live in the place where you become an adult. There are aspects of everyday life in Spain that I no longer know how to navigate, or cultural behaviors that feel completely normal to me now but might seem uncomfortable there.

«What truly makes a difference are the codes: the instruction manual for moving through society.»

«You learn how to live in the place where you become an adult.»

– One wish you would like to see come true.

I would really like history not to repeat itself. I would find it terribly exhausting to return to the Middle Ages or to the 1930s. I don’t know, it would be rather inconvenient for me at the moment.

If you happen to know a genie granting wishes, do me a favor and pass the message along, please.

«I would really like history not to repeat itself»

Foot notes

*

Reisfeld am Abend (Rice Field at Dusk)

2023 · 100 × 100 cm · Frame made with recycled canvas

Acrylic, fabric, and needles on wood

Reisfeld am Abend connects the story of family migration with childhood memories and elements of Valencian culture. Through the use of traditional Valencian fabrics transformed into pincushions, the work reflects on notions of value, abundance, memory, and reuse in modest domestic contexts. The pincushions, made with fabrics typical of Fallas costumes as well as scraps from the artist’s family environment, engage in dialogue with an abstract representation of a rice field under a reddish sky at sunset, evoking the agricultural landscape deeply linked to Valencian identity.

**

Sollbruchstellenverursacher (Maker of predetermined breaking point)

2023 · 131 × 131 cm · Eggshells and acrylic on wood

This work explores how migration “fractures” social structures, simultaneously generating new perspectives, cultural landscapes, and ways of living together. Inspired by the “Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher,” a German utensil for precisely cutting the tips of boiled eggs, whose name is almost unpronounceable for many foreigners, the piece uses stereotypes about Germans and migrants as a starting point to reflect on the impact of migration on contemporary society. The painting also serves as the conceptual basis for the related photographic series Bruchstellen.

***

How White is this?

2024 · 131 x 131 cm · Acrylic paint and eggshells on wood

The work How White is this? addresses the ambiguity and subjectivity of ethnic definitions based on nationality.

The cultural context in which the artist was educated recognizes the Spanish population as predominantly white despite the country’s multi-ethnic history and their physical differences from other European populations.

This designation implies a statement of nationality and social status – European Vs. non-European – rather than a question of color or ethnicity. It implies, depending on the intention of the speaker, distancing oneself from people from countries bordering Spain or Spanish-speaking countries, with which the Spanish population shares origin.

How White is this? is a kind reminder about these common features and a call to think about identity.

More info

Jesús Gómez – Instagram Jesús Gómez Artist – Instagram Jesús Gómez Photography

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Images of Jesus Gomez´s works and his work in the studio (C) Jesús Gómez

La entrada Jesús Gómez – Artist se publicó primero en YANMAG.

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Monika Borzym is a Polish jazz singer who studied at the Los Angeles Academy of Music. Her debut album, Girl Talk, released in 2011, was certified platinum in Poland. A few weeks ago, she performed in Madrid at the Sala Clamores as part of the Ellas Crean Festival, where she presented Lullabies for Adults, which combines the singer’s two passions: music and psychosexology. She was accompanied at the concert by renowned virtuosos Krzysztof Dys (piano), Maciej Matysiak (double bass), and Marcin Ułanowski (drums). This concert is part of the cultural activities that the Polish Institute of Culture is organizing to commemorate Poland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Monika Borzym has a velvety voice, with a special sensitivity for nuances that connects with her musicians and audience. Her performance also brought a smile to the audience’s faces on numerous occasions with her sense of humor and irony about the themes the songs addressed: love, heartbreak, sexuality, and the body.

We spoke with her to learn about her career.

– When did you discover you wanted to dedicate yourself to music, and specifically to jazz?

Around the age of 16 when I went for a year to American High School in the state of Illinois and was invited to be a part of a jazz big band as a piano player. It was an awesome, powerful experience sitting in with them.

– You are Polish and you trained in Poland and the US. What is the relationship between Polish culture and North American jazz?

I’d say not much. Polish jazz musicians, especially the ones I studied from in Poland, glorify North American jazz and their legendary jazz musicians. I’ve been tought about the legacy and style of the jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, transcribed their solos and have been advised to listen, listen, listen and try to analyze and mimic what they do.

– How do you prepare for each concert and what relationship do you seek with the audience?

I am always looking for an organic and true mutual engagement. This is the real magic force of each exciting concert, the pixie dust. I try to always be aware of the audience and what they react to. Staying open-minded and well connected with my band allows us to respond to each other and the audience as well. Atmosfere in the band is priceless here.

– Your last concert in Madrid was at the Clamores venue, where you presentedLullabies for Adults, compositions that addressed themes such as loneliness, relationships, the body, and sex. What led you to compose these songs?

I didn’t compose them. Most of them are pretty obscure, less known jazz standards and some songs, the ones in Polish, were written for me by Polish authors. But the topics of love, body and sex are very important and personal to me. I also work as a psychologist – sexologist and that profession is a great passion of mine.

– This concert showed a special connection with your musicians. How many years have you been working together and how did you put together the band?

Marcin Ułanowski who played the drums was in my very first band back in 2012 when I was touring my first record «Girl Talk»- we’ve been friends ever since but we don’t always play together. Maciek Matysiak playing the bass has been a friend of mine since music school. We played together in many projects and on many occasions. I adore what they both do in other bands they play with as well. I’m their true fan. They actually don’t always play jazz. They often play with extremely popular Polish Artists of different genres. Krzysztof Dys on the piano is my musical husband. We’ve been unbreakable since we started playing together 6 years ago.

– This concert was part of the Ellas Crean Festival. What special value does women’s creations have, and how did you feel about your performance in Madrid?

Female artists embody heart, emotions, honesty. Female artist are strong, commited and powerfull. I was proud to be a part of such a beautiful festival, such a great initiative.

– What advice would you give to a young woman musician who wants to pursue jazz professionally?

Have a second job or profession. That allows you to keep the relationship with music pure and full of joy. 

Más información

Monika Borzym – Instagram – YouTube

Instituto Polaco de Cultura

La entrada Monika Borzym in Madrid se publicó primero en YANMAG.

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Last March, the play Salvadas (Saved), directed by Maja Kleczewska, was presented at the Réplika Theatre in Madrid as part of the Ellas Crean Festival, part of the Polish Institute of Culture’s program to commemorate Poland’s presidency of the European Union Commission and supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Salvadas is a heartbreaking monologue written by Piotr Rowicki and performed by actress Agnieszka Przepiórska, which narrates the brutal violence suffered by women in the Zieleniak transit camp in Warsaw in 1944 at the hands of the SS RONA unit. The protagonist, Irena K., after 80 years of silence, revives her voice to honor the forgotten heroines. The play left the audience visibly impressed, and they wanted to know more about that terrible event after the performance, staying to talk with the lead actress.

We spoke with director Maja Kleczewska to learn more about the play, and we also included part of the conversation actress Agnieszka Przepiórska had with the audience at the end of the monologue performance.

INTERVIEW WITH MAJA KLECZEWSKA

Maja Kleczewska is one of Poland’s most renowned theater directors. Her works have been presented at venues such as the Venice Biennale—where she won the Silver Lion—the Stary Teatr in Krakow, the Deutsches Schauspielhaud in Hamburg, and the Alexandrinsky National Theatre in St. Petersburg.

– Why did you decide to direct Salvadas and what feelings provoked you to discover the original events of 1944?

In August 1944 during Warsaw Uprising there was a group of Russian criminals who joined nazis and their task was to pacify the civilians of one of the Warsaw central district. I was not aware of the scale of rapes and murders they committed. I was not aware that after 80 years the most of the names of the victims are unknown. I was not aware of the impact that the soviet occupation had on the forced silence of the victims. Russian crimes were covered up. Thousands of women never told of the rapes they experienced. I was relieved that after 80 years we can tell the story of the heroism of these women.

– Why do you think these events were never documented or reported? Why is silence maintained in places where rapes have occurred even after decades?

I understood that not only soviet politics but also shame was an important issue. Women didn’t want to be retraumatized by recalling the horrors of war. Rape is a war weapon that effects are felt in the past present and future. The effects of trauma of wartime rape are felt throughout life. Silence and denial are possible self defense mechanisms that protect human psychological structure.

– In your opinion, what do you think happens in men’s brains that transform them in this way during a war? Why do they suppress their empathy, often having wives and children at home?

These are very interesting questions but in the course of my work I did not focus on the psychological processes of the perpetrators. I wanted to focus on the victims and the survivors. And maybe the explanation given by Philip Zimbardo is enough to accept that everybody can become perpetrator it’s up to the situation and conditions. Probably every human being is capable of cruelty.

– Has the way the media talks about wars changed, or is rape still not talked about enough?

Rape as a war weapon devastates victims with violence and trauma. Psychological help is needed for survivors. In every war there are victims of war rape. In the past and present conflicts. We don’t talk about it enough. 7th October women were raped killed and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists but media were biased and did not pay attention. Ukrainian women are raped but their voice is not heard. Ukrainian activist during Festival in Cannes in 2022 appeared on the red carpet, ripped off her gown, revealing the Ukraine flag painted on her bare chest with the words «stop raping us» written on her abdomen while other parts of her body flashed red handprints.The woman yelled «Don’t rape us!» as security quickly encircled her and took her off the red carpet. Her voice was not heard either.

– The monologue demands a lot of intensity from Agnieszka Przepiórska for most of her time on stage. How did you work with her to maintain this intensity without becoming exhausted?

Well, I think eventually after the show she is exhausted. The part she plays is intensive and demanding. But what’s important is the aim and consciousness that she says what should be said, she reveals what was hidden. A sense of meaning gives strength.

– What reactions did have the audiences who saw the play in Poland? And in other countries?

Many audience members stay after the show to share their experiences. There are those, now nearly 90 years old, who remember those events, who were there and want to share their memories. Meeting them is an unforgettable experience. And then I understand why this performance had to be made and why it is needed.

– Salvadas was presented in Madrid as part of the Ellas Crean Festival. How do you think women’s perspective differs from men’s when they create?

I am not sure how to define women / men perspective in art. Maybe it’s easier for me to work on female characters. I like different artists and their work but their gender has no effect on my perception of art.

MEETING WITH ACTRESS AGNIESZKA PRZEPIÓRSKA

Agnieszka Przepiórska is a theater, television, and film actress, and a monodrama performer. She graduated from the Acting Department of the Saint Petersburg State Higher School of Theater and Film Arts. She is currently affiliated with the Juliusz Słowacki Theater in Krakow, where she can currently be seen in, among other plays, the plays Dziady and Wesele, directed by Maja Kleczewska, and Please, Mr. and Mrs. Wyspiański, Dying, directed by Agata Duda-Gracz.

The audience asked Agnieszka Przepiórska how she felt about performing this monologue and what it meant to her: «I feel a calling, I feel a power to tell these stories. I like bringing these women into the mainstream. I get tired, but I don’t feel empty. I feel it as a mission. For me, this is the ninth play we’ve staged. I’ve always been interested in biographies of women; it’s my professional goal. I’m interested in recovering the memory of these women. Half of the story remains to be told, which is the women’s story.

The House of Encounters with History is an institution we collaborate with that organizes theatrical encounters and collects oral archives of survivors, who are becoming fewer and fewer as they pass away. Thanks to this institution and this play, we are bringing these plays into the mainstream.»

Przepiórska has been interested in and studied the Spanish Civil War to find common ground with Salvadas, and during the meeting she mentioned mass graves and historical memory. She also mentioned that she visited the Prado Museum looking for the work of women artists.

Regarding the theater that interests her most, Przepiórska said: «I like both types of theater: bourgeois and political. I like to use it as a feminist political tool, but I also like words; I’m an actress. But right now, I don’t find any logic in theater that doesn’t have a message or a purpose to denounce something.»

The actress also spoke about her relationship with Russia and Russian culture: «I trained as an actress in St. Petersburg, and we Poles have always perceived Russian culture as something very big, even too big. I learned a lot there from my russian teachers. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, I distanced myself from Russia. I think its culture is very important, and I really like its authors, but because of what’s happening, it’s time to promote Ukrainian culture more.»

About Maja Kleczewska and the team she worked with on this production, she said: «Kleczewska is one of the three best stage directors in Poland; she usually works with larger casts and bigger productions. For me, it’s a miracle that she wanted to direct this work. Also the rest of the professionals who accompanied me, such as the creator of the video projected on stage, Krzysztof Garbaczewski, the choreographer Anna Krysiak, the music composer Cezary Duchnowski, and the costume designer Konrad Parol. I think Irena K. wanted all these great artists to want to work with me.»

More info

Salvadas – Instituto Polaco de Cultura Madrid

Ellas Crean Festival – Polish culture with a woman’s name

La entrada «Salvadas», directed by Maja Kleczewska and performed by Agnieszka Przepiórska se publicó primero en YANMAG.

«I’m interested in constructive journalism, the kind that takes a solutions-oriented approach.»

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Ana Palacios is a visual journalist specializing in the communication of projects with social impact, particularly those linked to the third sector.

Ana Palacios is a journalist and documentary photographer specializing in human rights, environmental issues, and animal rights. She holds a degree in Journalism from the University of Navarra and studied film and photography at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Before transitioning to documentary photography, she spent fifteen years in international film production, collaborating with renowned directors such as Ridley Scott, Milos Forman, Tony Kaye, Michael Radford, Jim Jarmusch, and Roman Polanski. Despite her success in the industry, she sought deeper fulfillment. A photographic project in a marginalized community in India became a turning point, revealing the transformative power of visual storytelling. Since then, she has dedicated her career to shedding light on underreported issues through photography.
Beyond her documentary work, Palacios is the founder of La Mirilla de Malasaña, a creative studio and meeting space where she offers mentoring and specialized photography workshops. With a profound commitment to solution-focused photojournalism, she strives to raise awareness and inspire action on invisible injustices.

– You have a degree in Journalism from the University of Navarra (Spain), what motivated you to choose this career?

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a film director. But my parents didn’t agree with their daughter getting into show business, so we made a pact: I would study a degree that would allow me to find a «real» job, and after that, I could study filmmaking. I chose BA in Journalism because it had parts that interested me a lot, like meeting interesting people, maybe traveling, telling stories and immersing myself in worlds very different from my own.

– You later trained in film directing and photography in Los Angeles and worked in production for 17 years for major Hollywood productions. What was that period like for you?

Yes, film was always my vocation and when I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I was able to study film at the University of California in Los Angeles (US) for two years. It was a very fun time, I felt like I was living my American dream and that I was living in a movie myself. The reality check came when I realized that directing was not my thing… but, the good news was that I was good at production, so I would try to work in that department. For 17 years I worked as a production coordinator on big international productions with directors like Ridley Scott and Roman Polanski. I really enjoyed my hectic life in the film world, I was always in between productions, in different cities, with wonderful people, but eventually… something just didn’t click.

– There is a specific moment when photography enters your life and you decide to change your profession. What happened to make that change happen and how was that transition for you?

Yes, there came a time when what I was doing no longer fulfilled me, no longer made me happy as it had before. Then I started to feel that I wanted to do something that would be more meaningful to my life. Photography has always been my second love. So I decided to go to India in 2010 and there I was… taking pictures of the work that the Sisters of St Ana do there, missions that are international cooperation projects in different parts of the country. When I returned from that trip, telling the stories and showing my photos of what I had seen, I realized that my colleages at the film crew wanted to «lend a hand», to participate and be part of the change.

At that moment I understood the power that a photograph can have to change things and I discovered its transformative power. That was when my professional interest in film began to fade and I started to make my way in the documentary photography focused in human rights. Until 2014, I was combining both things and already in 2015 I fully dedicated myself to photography.

«When I returned from that trip, telling the stories and showing my photos of what I had seen, I realized that my colleages at the film crew wanted to «lend a hand», to participate and be part of the change.»

«At that moment I understood the power that a photograph can have to change things and I discovered its transformative power»

– What motivates each photographic project and what is your working method?

With the projects I do as a journalist and documentary photographer, I try to document in depth what happens in the ‘broken corners of the world’. Those places inhabited by vulnerable communities, often with structural poverty, that never make the news unless a specific catastrophe occurs. These stories do not interest the media and they show them in a stereotyped and simplistic way. With my projects I try to make visible and raise awareness about these realities «from a different angle», always approaching the stories with a lot of previous research and as much rigor as possible.
My method of work is quiet and calm. I try to be honest with the reality I find. I am interested in constructive journalism, the one that seeks a solutions approach to fight against information fatigue, sensationalism and disinformation that floods social networks.

«With my projects I try to make visible and raise awareness about these realities «from a different angle», always approaching the stories with a lot of previous research and as much rigor as possible.»

«I am interested in constructive journalism, the one that seeks a solutions approach to fight against information fatigue, sensationalism and disinformation that floods social networks.»

– What is your relationship with the people you photograph and what personal impact do they have on you?

The most important thing for me is empathy and respect for my protagonists. The engine for wanting to share their struggle or their institutional abandonment. I need time to be able to build trust, to know the causes and consequences of what is happening to them and to be able to make an in-depth analysis.

That is what interests and excites me, to feel that I can be an agent of change for their transformation by telling their story.

«The most important thing for me is empathy and respect for my protagonists.»

«That is what interests and excites me, to feel that I can be an agent of change for their transformation by telling their story.»

– Your work is shown both in important media, NGOs and exhibitions, in journalistic and human rights fields but also in contemporary art fields. How is each context and in what way is your work perceived?

I like my work to be present in very different layers, to approach different audiences. My goal as a visual journalist is to bring closer the violations that my protagonists live and get the maximum possible exposure and that is why we have to take them out of their usual spaces. People who enter an NGO building and see an exhibition on its walls, oh, well… they are already interested in social issues. That’s why we have to take our content to other halls, art centers, museums, galleries, to the street… and thus bring these issues to an audience that a priori would not have gone to see my exhibition.

«I like my work to be present in very different layers, to approach different audiences.»

«My goal as a visual journalist is to bring closer the violations that my protagonists live and get the maximum possible exposure and that is why we have to take them out of their usual spaces.»

– You work with major media outlets such as National Geographic, The Guardian.

Yes, this comes from the same search to be a loudspeaker and give visibility to my projects. Since I started in 2010 to make documentary projects, I have also wanted to publish in foreign media, and over time big names like National Geographic, The Guardian or CNN have arrived. To be honest, it’s exciting to see my work in these prestigious media.

– You have opened your own studio, La Mirilla de Malasaña. How have you conceived and developed this project and what kind of activities do you offer at the moment.

I had always dreamed of this space dedicated to photography and, seeing it come true now, makes me very happy. It’s a meeting place around photography where I do personalized mentoring, as well as workshops, talks, etc. Photography is the central axis of everything we do.

– At La Mirilla de Malasaña you also offer other services for photographers. What are the needs you cover?

It is a coworking space for three people connected with the cultural management and/or communication world. It is also a small photo set that we rent for small product or individual portraits.

But, above all, we organize workshops on practical topics: how to set up an exhibition, how to publish in the media, how to prepare a dossier for an award, etc. We always count on great professionals as key speakers. We do one every two months, on weekends, and they are three hours for a maximum of seven people. All very boutique and private, because I think that compared to so many courses in Domestika or online workshops … it is necessary to offer the alternative of personalized attention and face to face.
Interesting synergies are generated among attendees, and I love that. We have had big names like Sofía Moro, Benito Román, Rosa Muñoz or Beatriz Gaspar and this enriches the meetings a lot too. We don’t have a website but on Instagram @lamirillademalasana we share everything that is happening in this great little space.

– What projects do you have in the pipeline?

My plan for 2025 is to learn to teleport, time travel and save the world from all its ills. If I don’t succeed this year either, I will try to deal with life as it comes, avoiding Tranquimacin as much as possible. And, to feed body and soul, I am working on a pet rescue and adoption project with Foundation Salvando Peludos that will be released in March 2025. More in the short term, I am working on several health related topics, one of them will take me to my beloved Africa soon with the help of an English university.

– What advice would you give to someone following in your footsteps and starting out in humanitarian and human rights photography?

I would tell him or her that this career is a way of understanding the world and wanting to contribute to improving it. Perseverance, rigor and ethics are the best allies to achieve it and that he should arm himself with patience, creativity and energy, because this is a long-distance race.

– A dream that you would like to come true.

Sleeping through a whole full night.

More info

Ana Palacios – Instagram – LinkedIn – Facebook – X / Twitter – YouTube

La mirilla de Malasaña – Instagram

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La entrada Ana Palacios – Visual journalist se publicó primero en YANMAG.

«We are passionate about art because of its ability to bring so many people together»

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Carla Lariot, art advisor and art historian, and Luca Sandigliano, architect, are the founders of Lariot Collective, a London based art gallery with an international trajectory. Burgeoned in the midst of the pandemic, they faced all the inconveniences of that moment with creativity and intelligence. After three years, they managed to gain a foothold on the international contemporary art scene with an ecologically sustainable and constantly changing gallery blueprint, always seeking to adapt to the trade’s needs and trends.

A gallery creating a community around its artists that also has the ability to attract new collectors as well as more experienced ones, welcoming everyone with friendly and close manners.

We talked to its founders to get an in depth understanding of the soul of their company.

– You are a Spanish and an Italian who have been living in London for more than seven years. How did you meet and at what point did you decide to create the Lariot Collective gallery?

We met in London in February 2020, at that time Luca was working at Foster + Partners as Bim & Design System Coordinator and Carla was working as Art Advisor and emerging art specialist for the Cingilli Collection. Between us we always talked about our dreams of owning a gallery (Carla) and becoming an entrepreneur (Luca). When the pandemic hit, in October 2020 Carla lost her job, and that’s when it became clear that it was the best time to take a risk and create Lariot Collective. It was a personal quest by both of us at a very complex time for all of us, a challenge in the midst of confinement. We both believe that the most difficult moments in history are those that generate the greatest creativity and where the best projects emerge. It is essential to remember that a recession is also a catalyst for innovation and opportunity.

«We both believe that the most difficult moments in history are those that generate the greatest creativity»

– What is your relationship with art and culture? What are you most passionate about?

– Carla: I have had the immense good fortune to grow up in a family that has instilled in me a love of art and culture from a very young age. My grandmother was a painter, my father (Semiologist) was the director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome for 6 years and I grew up playing in artists’ studios. My mother (Sociologist) has always been closely connected to the world of culture. It was only natural that I decided to study art history and that I ended up working in it, it is the field in which I feel most comfortable and in which I have enjoyed the most. What fascinates me most about the world of art is the force of attraction it exerts and the capacity it has to bring so many people together.

«It was only natural that I decided to study art history and that I ended up working in it»

«What fascinates me most about the world of art is the force of attraction it exerts and the capacity it has to bring so many people together»

– Luca: My process has been very gradual and organic. Being born in a small town, I immediately had the curiosity and the desire to free myself from a relatively restricted reality, which allowed me to be exposed to different places, people, environments and inputs over the years and little by little I built up my cultural baggage.
Undoubtedly, having studied architecture played a fundamental role, as it is a very flexible discipline that opens your mind to 360 degrees, thanks to which I have cultivated all kinds of contacts and friendships. An architect can easily become a writer, filmmaker, fashion designer, photographer or artist. I have always been fascinated by the connection between art and architecture. Content and container, technique and imagination, light and shadow.
I am interested in the will of art to make you imagine something, the partial description and the mental freedom that is necessarily unleashed, this freedom is not allowed in all disciplines and is a very valuable aspect.

«I am interested in the will of art to make you imagine something»

«this freedom is not allowed in all disciplines and is a very valuable aspect»

– What does London bring to you and why was the gallery born in this city?

It is the city where we have both grown professionally, we both lived here for several years and London has always been a great art and business center. The art scene here is still unparalleled, an explosion of artists and galleries that are a great inspiration. We’ve always felt that if a small business can do well and function in a city like London, it can do well in any city, the competition here is so fierce.

 «if a small business can do well and function in a city like London, it can do well in any city»

– What tasks do you each perform in the gallery and how do you complement each other?

The truth is that we complement each other very well, the fact that we come from different fields is key: Carla has more than 10 years of experience in the sector and professional experience in galleries, institutions and biennials as well as in the art market and therefore has the know-how; however, Luca, who comes from the world of architecture and has experience in management, is the one who brings the most groundbreaking ideas, he sees beyond any classical model and that is key.

We are both involved in all the decision-making processes, but perhaps Carla is the one who is more in charge of relations (both with artists and clients), sales and the more specialised part, and Luca is the one who is in charge of all the design and organisation. Lariot Collective is the combination of the two.

– Carla, you have worked for numerous public and private art institutions in the UK, Italy and Spain, including the Venice Biennale, Sabrina Amrani Art Gallery, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Frieze, Victoria & Albert Museum and Red Valentino, among others, as well as working as an art advisor to collectors.
What are the experiences that have given you the most personally and professionally?

Throughout my professional and academic career I have always tried to position myself internationally and to have experience in different fields within the art world and not to focus only on one sector but to have a broad experience in order to get to know this industry from different points of view.
I think that of all the professional experiences I have had, the ones that have taught me the most have been my time at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, where I understood that the art world was my passion; my time with Sabrina Amrani during the early years of the gallery, from whom I learnt a lot and who is a great example to me as a gallerist; the honour of having assisted Okwi Enwezor at the Venice Biennale and having been able to work hand in hand with the whole team behind the colossus of the biennale; and lastly, it has been key to have worked with Kemal Has Cingillioglu at the Cingilli Collection as an art advisor, thanks to him I have learned everything I know about the art market.
In all these experiences I have grown a lot, not only professionally but also personally.

«I have always tried to position myself internationally and to have experience in different fields within the art world»

«In all these experiences I have grown a lot, not only professionally but also personally»

– Luca, you are an architect by profession for a big company in London, but you have come to the world of contemporary art, do you somehow relate both worlds through the gallery?

My whole professional life has always revolved around the project: whether it’s designing a masterplan with Foster + Partners or directing the construction of a building with the MACE group.
The project defines a desire, an idea that takes shape, a precise objective, a timetable, a level of development depending on the availability of resources; it is a delicate balance. The project generates debate and at the same time generates development.
I think that design, not necessarily architectural design, identifies very clearly the point of connection between art and architecture.
In the gallery we live and feed on projects, they are the engine that drives our calendar forward and allows us to create an increasingly solid infrastructure over and over again, where we make mistakes, we learn and improve.

«The project generates debate and at the same time generates development»

«In the gallery we live and feed on projects, they are the engine that drives our calendar forward and allows us to create an increasingly solid infrastructure»

– How does the gallery usually operate and what strategy are you developing?

Lariot Collective organises four exhibitions a year and participates in fairs, we work very directly with our artists and our clients and we are always looking for new strategies, new spaces and new exhibition projects. In these years we have understood that the classic gallery model is not always sustainable and we are working to follow new gallery models that have a more tentacular strategy, with projects that go beyond exhibitions and that we believe are alternative models to the classic one, with a concept that unites the classic gallery model with a model closer to that of agencies and consultancies.
In this last year we are learning to have a strong business vision, we are starting to look for investors and to develop market strategies, to work hand in hand with a network of art advisors who support us in sales internationally and to look for partnerships with other industries. We are working between London and Madrid to remain within the European Union on a business level.

«In this last year we are learning to have a strong business vision, we are starting to look for investors and to develop market strategies»

«We are working between London and Madrid to remain within the European Union on a business level»

– Over the years you have been defining the style of art that interests you, how would you describe it and what differentiates you from other galleries?

We have needed some time to discover what our style is as a gallery, at first we thought we had to have several and test them in the market, but in a very organic way we have understood what our style is: we work mainly with painting, specifically figurative, with a strong and powerful style but at the same time it is very conceptual. We like to have a storytelling, but what we like most is to present artworks that have a lot of technique, that aesthetically we like a lot, but that confront you with a complex reality. As spectators we like artworks that leave a mark: not only amazing technically and aesthetically, but also because the message behind it is clear and energetic.
As a gallery we started out focusing on emerging and young artists, but now we are also working with established ones.

«we work mainly with painting, specifically figurative, with a strong and powerful style but at the same time it is very conceptual»

– What makes you different from other galleries?

Lariot Collective has a philosophy behind who we are, what we want the business to be like and what we want to do, and this changes the way we look at artists because the gallery is born with the idea of a collective, that is to build and share a community of people around our artists who share the same passion as us, whether they are collectors, institutions, brands, magazines, publishers, museums; we all share the same motivation to tell stories about those who inspire us. The narrative you choose to tell is very important, it has to be a narrative that you want to be heard. If we don’t believe in the story, we won’t push it. We are authentic and that is what makes our business effective in the long run.
We’ve realised that there are very traditional ideas and gallery models in the art sector. We try to deconstruct and reformulate the way a lot of things work at the moment in this sector and understand better how the art market works so that we can adapt new models. We are in a very traditional market and our gallery wants people who challenge their way of thinking. The art world has a hard time adapting, let’s change it with reflection and proactivity.

«the gallery is born with the idea of a collective, that is to build and share a community of people around our artists»

«We are in a very traditional market and our gallery wants people who challenge their way of thinking»

– Lariot Collective was born with an international vocation, in what aspects is it reflected?

London is a great business center, with start-ups and very inspiring think tankers. In the art world there are thousands and thousands of galleries and to be successful in an industry it is crucial to know what is happening, what is being done. There is so much happening that you feel you are always studying and analysing.
Right now we are being a bridge between Spain, Italy and the UK, we are exhibiting Spanish artists in the UK, London based international artists in Spain for the first time and bringing Italian artists here.
We are looking for art residencies in other countries so that our artists can have a presence internationally in other markets.

– Your clients are regular collectors but you also have new buyers who end up becoming collectors. How do you manage to create this interest in the art world and what are the particularities of the buying experience in the gallery?

We believe that art should be accessible to everyone and we work to make the experience of those who want to get to know Lariot Collective as close as possible and that they can feel that they are also part of our collective.
Our house is a working space and it also functions many times as a showroom and a space where we organise drinks and dinners with our collectors and people interested in our artists.
Nowadays anyone can be invited to the opening of a gallery, but we take it a step further by opening the doors of our home for a more personal and intimate experience. Since I was very young I have been fascinated with the idea of the gallerit’s house, there is a certain appeal in knowing the small chaos of artworks they have in their homes, and opening a house is also an act of showing a very personal side that not everyone is willing to show.

«Nowadays anyone can be invited to the opening of a gallery, but we take it a step further by opening the doors of our home for a more personal and intimate experience»

«Since I was very young I have been fascinated with the idea of the gallerit’s house»

We have realised that there is still a lot of unfamiliarity about the art market world, and there is a very high percentage of people who are art lovers but don’t take the step to buy simply because they think they can’t access it, or because they don’t know exactly what their style is or think they don’t have the budget; they are usually people who are very familiar with found investment but not with art investment.

We try to break down all these barriers, we advise on the art market, we help to establish budgets, we don’t want the purchase to be just a transaction but to be the closest possible experience and for this we deliver the works whenever we can in person, we open our doors and we believe in the synergies that are created, it is very important to maintain contact with people not only who have become our collectors, but to all those who show interest in our project.

Nowadays we have become used to having everything with a click, we are committed to interpersonal relationships, to experiences and Lariot Collective are not only those who work behind the gallery and our artists, but all those who are interested in our project and follow us. In a society in which everything is increasingly impersonal, it is important to feel that you are part of something.

«it is very important to maintain contact with people not only who have become our collectors, but to all those who show interest in our project»

«In a society in which everything is increasingly impersonal, it is important to feel that you are part of something»

– As an itinerant gallery, you are very conscious of your ecological impact and carbon footprint, how do you manage this aspect on a daily basis?

Yes, for us it is crucial and it is in our DNA, our pop-up gallery model implies flexibility, innovation and reduction of emissions, the key to a sustainable model.
This model allows us to expand nationally and internationally, to test cities and neighbourhoods and to change the static gallery model. It is an easy way to attract new visitors, avoiding a long-term lease. This model offers flexibility, cost reduction and additional income.
On the other hand, we have been part of The Gallery Climate Coalition since the beginning to fight the carbon footprint together with other international galleries.
We have made many changes in the logistics of the gallery and every movement is very well thought out: unless it is essential (for example shipments to the USA, Asia etc), we avoid sending works by air and the use of custom-made wooden crates: these crates are not going to have a second life, they are not sustainable, and therefore, we look for alternatives to the traditional shipment of art. If we have to send artworks, for example Madrid-London or London-Paris, we work with removal companies who, when they have a scheduled moving, they give us the go-ahead and we only use a small space to transport the artworks, maintaining a high level of security for the piece and its tracking at all times. Every small gesture helps to reduce the carbon footprint.

«We have made many changes in the logistics of the gallery and every movement is very well thought out»

«Every small gesture helps to reduce the carbon footprint»

– What is your assessment of these three years?

Three very happy years of hard work and personal and professional growth. Three years full of challenges, of connections and above all of growing hand in hand with our artists. We are very proud to have carried out our project in such a complicated moment.
Now in this third year we are moving into a phase of consolidation, business maturity, learning what works and what doesn’t and activating the tentacular model we were talking about before. I think it is very important as a company to know when to stop and analyse from a distance what needs to change and to know how to have a road map, to be prepared to face new challenges and to adapt the company to the needs of the moment. I would say that in these 3 years we have learned not only to be gallerists but also to be entrepreneurs, and this is something they never teach you in art history or architecture!

«in these three years we have learned not only to be gallerists but also to be entrepreneurs»

– How do you feel when you sell works that you particularly like?

On the one hand you feel happiness to see that the piece has found the right collector or collection / museum, but at the same time you feel very sad to part with it. During the time that you live with the piece until you sell it, you feel that you own part of the aura of that artwork, it becomes part of you and it is always sad to say goodbye. It’s part of our work. It is very nice when you see them again in collectors’ houses or even in private collections and museums.
There is a romantic part of not knowing whether you will see them again or not.

«During the time that you live with the piece until you sell it, you feel that you own part of the aura of that artwork, it becomes part of you and it is always sad to say goodbye»

– What are Lariot Collective’s upcoming events?

In june we just presented a duo show in London with works by Ernesto Crespo and Filippo Fanciotti and for the first time we collaborated with Bag, a great sound art project, they performed during the opening.

In september we will have a duo show with two Spanish artists in London: Santiago Talavera and José Luis Serzo.

And in autumn/winter we will do an exhibition with Diana Zrnic in London and a solo show in Madrid with Ernesto Crespo.

– What do you spend your time doing when you are not working?

We are both lucky that the gallery is our passion, and this means that most of our time is dedicated to Lariot Collective, preparing projects, events, etc. But when we are not working we visit exhibitions (professional defect!), we love walking in London’s parks: Luca is always looking for green spaces to detox from the city, we like to do yoga and read and I like to discover bargains in second-hand clothes shops from time to time.

– A wish that you would like to come true

If we say it, it won’t come true! But …. maybe we would say to never lose the sense of humour, it’s key to everything in life

«to never lose the sense of humour, it’s key to everything in life ;)»

More info

Lariot Collective – Instagram – LinkedIn – Facebook

La entrada Carla Lariot and Luca Sandigliano – Lariot Collective – Art Gallery se publicó primero en YANMAG.

«What has captivated me in art is its infinite freedom»

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Hana Jaeger is an Israeli artist settled in Madrid since 2020 and her artwork is influenced by german neo expressionism from the 1970s. She is telling a story, short and simple, true and sincere, devoid of flowery language and superfluous words. Daily life of anonymous people, those who nobody pay heed of and situated in the margins such as the infirm, labourers, families, military, convicts among many others. Her oeuvre is presented in diverse formats, from big canvases to small cardboard boxes with a free brushstroke unafraid of getting smeary anytime. We met this sincere and sensitive artist.

– You have been a Mathematics teacher, later specialising in Communication. At what point did you decide you wanted to dedicate yourself to art?

I didn’t decide…it just happened naturally. I slipped into it I went to an art school and there it happened. I realized that that what I want to do. I left my job in mathematics, and dedicated myself to art. During the previous years, I’d been dealing with craft, which well prepared me for working in art. Many people see my turning from mathematics to art as a surprising deviation, but I think that there’s a great deal of creativity in mathematics, just like in art. Nevertheless, what has captivated me in art is its infinite freedom. Here there are no strict rules like in mathematics. You’re free to do anything: «We painters have the same freedom granted to poets and the madmen.» said painter Paolo Veronese.

«there’s a great deal of creativity in mathematics, just like in art»

«what has captivated me in art is its infinite freedom. Here there are no strict rules like in mathematics»

– You carried out your career in Israel; how did it influence your
work and your way of creating? How does the environment inspire an artist?

I came ‘tabula rasa’ to my art studies, like a child taking its first steps, but with much more maturity and a rich life load. I feel that this combination has contributed greatly to the nature of my creativity both in my essence and in my handwriting. Without being aware of it, and as someone who grew up in the home of Holocaust survivors, a melancholy chord has permeated my works. The house I grew up in was a normative and dedicated home, but only ostensibly so. It was a wounded home. Perhaps that’s why I deal more with the marginal and the weak, contemplate the day-to-day people, those we don’t see, the transparents, and document the moments that pass us by unnoticed, but I bestow full splendour on them all. I bring them from backstage to the front of the stage.

«I deal more with the marginal and the weak, contemplate the day-to-day people, those we don’t see, the transparents»

«I bestow full splendour on them all. I bring them from backstage to the front of the stage»

Exploration of people living their life on the margins seems to address the viewers to a very subtle still effective socio-political criticism. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, «the artist’s role differs depending on which part of the world you’re in. It depends on the political system you’re living under». Not to mention that almost everything, ranging from Caravaggio’s Inspiration of Saint Matthew to Joep van Lieshout’s works, could be considered political. I agree with Bob Dylan, that said that the artist’s role is to deal with his work, to bring out what he believes in, otherwise, if the work is didactic or tendentious, it doesn’t work well. It loses its sincerity. In painting I deliver my own self as a person who’s very much involved in what’s happening all around. I’ve thereby created some sort of statement, politically and socially. As an artist one can’t live in a bubble, detached from the environment, otherwise one’s work becomes irrelevant and, in my opinion, also boring. And I, as an opinionated woman, certainly expose my opinion on that subject in my art as well. For the political realm is the sphere of human activity that deals with the forces operating in society and that’s what I’m dealing with, only from my personal angle. I do not connect it particularly to the part of the world in which you happen to be. Emotions like compassion, morality, and social justice are universal values that nations and political systems lack to some degree or another, some more and some less. It’s very hard for me when it comes to a severe total eclipse in certain places. Of course, what happens around me is exposed to my eyes affects my creativity even more. If only things could somehow come close to perfection in most parts of the world.

«As an artist one can’t live in a bubble, detached from the environment, otherwise one’s work becomes irrelevant»

«what happens around me is exposed to my eyes affects my creativity even more»

– You allow for an open reading, a great multiplicity of meanings: associative possibilities seem to play a crucial role in your pieces. How do you view the concepts of the real and the imagined playing out within your works?

All my works are untitled. Open, unravelled reading is very important for me. They say that an artist knows what he wants to create but doesn’t know what he has eventually created. The moment you have completed your work and exposed it to the viewer it is expropriated from you. The subjects in my work are universal, and it’s so interesting and surprising to hear from people how each one connects. Each one with whatever he’s brought from the load he carries, from his life, from his world. There are those who see sadness in a certain work and others who sometimes see humour there. Work should be multi-layered.
The world represented in my works calls for thinking about the voyeuristic experience of painting. It is a world in which peeping turns out to be an impossible, unfocused contemplation of a kind that is trapped in the contours of fantasy. The works direct the gaze toward the body language of the subject of the painting, the forbidden gaze echoing questions about its ownership, about the prison of the gaze. The painting suggests the toughness of disorder, the liquidity of the sign, dirty in one world but clean in another. The power of the painting is in the looking at the heart of existence, in order to make its perversions reverberate.

«The moment you have completed your work and exposed it to the viewer it is expropriated from you»

«The power of the painting is in the looking at the heart of existence, in order to make its perversions reverberate»

– You say you tell true and sincere stories with no artifice through
your work; what stories interest you and what is your work process like?

A well-known Israeli artist Pichhadze asserted that life is like a snowball that rolls and in time more and more life stories stick to it and in the end enters the studio. My biographical background certainly resonates in my work, whether I like it or not. I paint things that are here and now. Everything is close at hand; simple small scenes and I tell them my way. Even through my father’s Interior Code Painting —an autobiographical idiom that appears and reverberates in my paintings— the scenes seem to be universal ones and convey such familiar emotions that anyone can relate to them. My inner self is expressed in the way the stories are presented, in the characters, in the places, in the interaction between them, in the composition, in the palette that I choose, and even in the manner of applying the paint. In my opinion, good art can’t be detached from direct experience. It’s got to burst out from the artist’s bowels. I think that the artist’s hands are extensions of the heart.

«My inner self is expressed in the way the stories are presented, in the characters, in the places, in the interaction between them, in the composition, in the palette that I choose, and even in the manner of applying the paint»

«good art can’t be detached from direct experience»

– Your work reminds many times of the expressionist movement. Do you feel linked in any way with it? Did it inspire your work process?

Yes, I admire the German neo-expressionism and especially Rainer Fetting. At the beginning of my career, I used to paint abstract which, on looking back, turned out to be for me an excellent exercise in composition, range of colours, application of paint and brush strokes, etc. I was looking at the objects I drew from above, from bird’s eyes or actual frontal views, brush-stained paintings, and gradually I began to sharpen the stain to something concretely figurative. And the paintings flowed out as if they’d been waiting for years to see the light of day, to feel the fresh air, and with them the subjects. Somewhat like Degas peeping at dancers behind the scenes I peep at people (mostly men) in everyday scenarios. The subjects of the paintings are without pathos. They’re of a prosaic anti heroic stature. They’re of a kind that are sometimes not worth a second look. But I see them as worth painting and brought from behind the scenes into the foreground. The paintings are low key, at times exposed and other times radiating acute feeling. With no cynicism or over criticism, the paintings turn a spotlight on them. The palette of colours is accordingly of minor and major half tones. The people in the painting are antiheroes, underdogs, weaklings, vulnerable like in the German expressionism I use for inspiration. There’s a social expression in my works stemming from an intimately non-defiant place.

«They’re of a kind that are sometimes not worth a second look. But I see them as worth painting and brought from behind the scenes into the foreground»

«With no cynicism or over criticism, the paintings turn a spotlight on them»

– You generally paint on canvas, but also on cardboard boxes, where labels and signs are part of the composition. Why did you start with this line of work?

In addition to my paintings on large size canvases I like to paint on cardboard boxes because what else could be as much connected as they are to the subjects of my paintings than those everyday items, always available, transient, marginal, and unimportant. I collect them from diverse parts of the world and give them a renewed life. They’re not used only as a bed for the painting, they’re an integral part of the painting. The cardboard boxes are of various sizes ranging from the miniature, for mobile phones or jewellery, and up to the very large, for refrigerators, etc. And in effect they’re more than paintings, they’re objects. In 2013 I lived for several months in Berlin and then spent an Artist’s residency at the Cite’ International Des Arts in Paris for about six months. Because of the size of the studio and the inability to work in large formats, and because the bedroom was part of the studio, which prevented me from working in oils, I painted on paper and small cardboard boxes. These works can be viewed on my website. When I returned to my studio, I switched to very large formats as if to release the energies accumulated in Paris. I continue adamantly to paint on both, canvas, and cardboard boxes, since they stimulate and challenge me in different ways.

«I like to paint on cardboard boxes because what else could be as much connected as they are to the subjects of my paintings than those everyday items, always available, transient, marginal, and unimportant»

– A wish you would like to come true

I know it will sound a bit megalomanic, but I really wish the world to be a much better place. Beside the sustainability, I wish for peace, as the late Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin said “No more wars, no more bloodshed”.
And if I may, a little personal wish – to be a better Spanish speaker so I will be able to talk about my art and communicate better with my colleagues.

«I really wish the world to be a much better place»

More info

Hana Jaeger – Instagram – Facebook

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La entrada Hana Jaeger – Artist se publicó primero en YANMAG.

«Living in a different culture is a challenge»

Lee la entrevista en Español

Shiva Roofeh is an international facilitator, speaker, moderator, program designer and educator who teaches people how to discern, understand and control their own mental programming. A way of thinking and acting that comes from the different cultures in which we all  grow up and are immersed in.

Shiva is of Iranian-American, Muslim-Jewish agnostic origin and has lived in six different countries. All this intercultural mix of hers made her someone with a great capacity for observation, analysis of social environments and adaptation to change. A knowledge she applies daily by helping people improve themselves and their relationships in their professional environment.

In this interview we learn about an intelligent, strong and determined professional with a quite interesting experience.

– You are of Iranian descent and grew up in the US from the age of five, how do you live between two cultures and what has it meant for you to grow up in this environment?

That is a wonderfully triggering question. Living between two cultures sometimes seems sexy and exotic but in reality it’s very hard. Like a lot of immigrants I grew up in a system where inside the house I was one identity – Persian – and outside the house I was another identity – North American. This wasn’t a conscious decision, it was survival. In a culture like the USA society doesn’t give you permission to be not American. When we first moved to the US I was Iranian, both my internal identity and my external identity – the identity that society labeled me, was “from Iran”. As I got older my internal identity shifted, I became Iranian-American but my external identity stayed the same. Always being asked “where are you from.. Where are you really from?” forces you to identify as other, as non American in this case. At the same time, the longer we spent in the USA the less my family and other Iranians considered me theirs. So you enter a sort of in-between space where you’re not one or the other. And for me that constant disconnect between my internal identity and my external identity meant that I just didn’t belong, that’s how I internalized it. So growing up in that environment I constantly felt the need to belong, anywhere. I felt homeless. But in that in-between space there’s also a freedom. If I’m not fully Iranian I don’t have to follow all our unspoken rules like having a poet’s heart and also becoming a doctor or engineer. Not being fully American meant I also don’t have to follow all the unspoken rules of the US like excessive competition while following your dreams. Cultures are full of contradictions. By not being from one or other I was able to create my own culture, choosing which values, norms and behaviors were aligned with me. And that is the biggest gift living between multiple cultures has given me.

«I constantly felt the need to belong, anywhere. I felt homeless. But in that in-between space there’s also a freedom»

«Cultures are full of contradictions. By not being from one or other I was able to create my own culture, choosing which values, norms and behaviors were aligned with me»

– You have lived in different countries such as Iran, Italy, the United States, England, Ireland and Spain, in what way have they changed you personally in addition to your perception of the world and of people?

I lived in three countries before the age of five. I was born in Iran and lived as a refugee in both Italy and the US. As a kid, simply knowing, really knowing, that other cultures existed was a lifesaver. And when I say “know” I don’t mean cognitively – we all know other countries exist. For me “knowing” is living. Having lived in other countries, met its people, eaten its food, seen its streets and experienced it meant that I knew there was always a way out. There was always an escape. I realize this sounds super survivalist but really it was the start of mindset that concretely knew that other realities were possible. Another change that a cross culture life has given me is constant energy and need to explore. I honestly don’t know if my intense curiosity about the world is something natural to me or something that happened because I lived abroad so much as a kid. As an adult I also choose to keep moving. I’ve lived in England, Ireland and now Spain and all of those experiences have helped me become a better person, consistently and continuously. Every single day living in a different culture is a challenge – in a good way. Every day I come across something new, sometimes it’s a new word and sometimes it’s coming face to face with a part of my mindset or identity that I didn’t know was there. If you take advantage of all the challenges and regular newness and if you choose to face who you are and not who you want to be during these challenges, then you have the opportunity to change the worst parts of you and continuously grow into a better person.

«experienced it meant that I knew there was always a way out. There was always an escape»

– What does the ability to adapt mean to you?

It means make small shifts in the way you think, questioning your assumptions, and changing some habits. There’s this fear that if you adapt to other people or other cultures (which is fundamental for real inclusion), then you lose yourself and your identity. That’s complete bullshit. Adapting doesn’t change who you are, it doesn’t change your values or religious beliefs and it doesn’t make you less patriotic. There are two general parts to adapting: adapting to behaviors and timetables and adapting mindset and attitude.

Both of those together means looking at your surroundings – the people who choose to spend time with and love, the organization where you work, the community you choose to keep, the society you live in – and understanding the people that make up those groups. What is common sense for them? What is “normal” for them? Some things like timetables and dress codes might be rigid and that means you have to change your behaviors and habits. Other things, intangible things, like communication, trust, respect, friendship and leadership are more flexible and mean you observe and learn about the people so you can treat them how they want to be treated, not how you want to be treated.

«There’s this fear that if you adapt to other people or other cultures (which is fundamental for real inclusion), then you lose yourself and your identity»

«Adapting doesn’t change who you are»

– What is mental programming, why did it start to interest you, and how do you work in this area?

Mental programming is all the unwritten rules, so called common sense, assumptions, values, beliefs and behaviors that we inherit from our national cultures, our religions, families, friends and communities while we are growing up. We didn’t actively choose any of these assumptions, values, rules, etc. They were given to us, programmed into us, from when we are children. I became interested in mental programming when I got into the world of Cultural Intelligence. Learning that each culture had its own “common sense” and that there are different definitions and beliefs around things like trust, respect, “good” leadership, and even different perspectives of time, made me realize that we’re all just trained in our culture’s assumptions, values and beliefs. We aren’t asked as children what mental model of the world we want to use. We are given a mental model and commanded to follow it – that command is never explicit, it comes in the form of rejection – “if you don’t follow how we work here, then you don’t belong here.” This made me realize that even smaller cultural units like families, communities, schools are made up of people who follow a similar mental model between them. And guess what? All these people (meaning you, me and everyone we know) end up in jobs – CEOs, politicians, factory workers, hospitality workers, medical workers, etc and continue living in their mental models of how the world should be, but the problem is that 1) none of chose our mental model so a lot of times what’s normal for us is not actually natural for us and 2) no one shares the exact same mental model as us but we think they do. My work is helping senior leaders understand and unpack their mental models to get rid of assumptions, beliefs, unwritten rules and behaviors that don’t serve them, their teams and their organizations.

«We didn’t actively choose any of these assumptions, values, rules, etc. They were given to us, programmed into us, from when we are children»

«My work is helping senior leaders understand and unpack their mental models to get rid of assumptions, beliefs, unwritten rules and behaviors that don’t serve them, their teams and their organizations»

– How is the work you do as a facilitator like and how do you apply it to your work?

When I’m working as a facilitator and not a trainer, my role is to create and moderate processes where people come together to discuss a topic, generate ideas, make decisions, etc. In my facilitator role I’m not an expert in any specific content – it’s the participants who are the “experts” or who hold the knowledge. So my role in context is to create a psychologically safe space where participants feel they can share openly, discuss without getting off track, not take things personally and get insights along the way. I use my facilitation skills all the time – in meetings with clients, in debates, when training… while arguing with my partner. It’s like a magic tool.

«My role in context is to create a psychologically safe space where participants feel they can share openly, discuss without getting off track, not take things personally and get insights along the way»

«I use my facilitation skills all the time – in meetings with clients, in debates, when training… while arguing with my partner. It’s like a magic tool»

– You design education programs for companies, what kind of programs do you design and what are the results?

I teach people how to not be assholes. I realize this sounds offensive, but I mean it with the best intention. My definition of asshole is someone who is unaware of the mental programming that is driving their decisions, behaviors and attitudes. So I teach people how to discover their hidden mental programming so they can be better humans first and better leaders second. And a better human is simply someone who knows enough about themselves to not put their problems (their insecurities, fears, anger) on other people.

I do this through programs focused on Cultural Intelligence and Leadership and, more importantly, where those two meet – self awareness and leading by design not default. When you start living and lead by design not default you become aware of your problems – the fears, insecurities, old beliefs and assumptions that have been driving your behavior. You realize how your worst part has helped you in some ways but also how it’s hurt your leadership, relationships and career.

Think of it like tools for leadership and life that nobody teaches you. That’s what I teach and facilitate. The results are amazing (very humble of me, I know). Yes, there is always a percentage of people who resist and reject but the majority are open to the idea of stretching who they are and how they show up. In those cases some of the results have been: unconventional next generation leaders getting a seat at the table; a white supremacist undergrad embracing multiculturalism; senior leaders leaving high profile and high paying jobs to launch purpose driven community projects; General Managers in major pharmaceuticals actively working to become better ancestors and; my favorite – senior leaders across countries and industries facing their fears and insecurities of not being good enough, smart enough and just enough.

» A better human is simply someone who knows enough about themselves to not put their problems (their insecurities, fears, anger) on other people»

– You work for different international companies such as Novartis, ABN AMRO, Gestamp Automotive, Generali, Accenture, Rolls Royce, Samsung, BASF, Merck, Repsol and Unilever, among others, of which projects are you most proud?

If I had to choose I’d say that the project I did with Generali is the one I’m most proud of and of my absolute favorites. It had a lot of layers to it as a program and I was lucky to work with a great team and a super smart, sharp client. On a personal level though, I was not in a good place. The program involved a few week-long face to face sessions in Italy and on day three of the first session I realized my marriage wasn’t working and I wanted a divorce. I cried that night and every night until I got home. But during the day I was able to get on the stage, command the room and do a kick ass job. And I loved every minute of doing it – I didn’t suffer through it, it felt like exactly where I needed and wanted to be in that moment. Living in that space between the passion of doing what I love to do and the terror of knowing that my life will have to drastically change unlocked something in me. Living that I knew that I could break down and move forward at the same time.

I’m extremely proud of that program in general – the client, the participants, my co-facilitator – these are some of the best professionals and humans I’ve ever worked with. But I’m also proud of myself because I didn’t just make it through a bad time, I excelled during a bad time and I even enjoyed it.

«I’m also proud of myself because I didn’t just make it through a bad time, I excelled during a bad time and I even enjoyed it»

– You are a teacher in different business schools, such as DukeCE, Headspring (formerly Financial Times – IE Corporate Learning Alliance), The Geneva Business School, BSpark and ICADE, how is your relationship with your students and what do you try to instill in them?

I’m a no bullshit teacher. I also have little patience and high expectations. But I also want to teach them all the life and leadership tools that no one ever taught me and those around me. I want to instill in them a need – not a desire or a want but a need to be better and do better. I think I can actually answer this question better by quoting an old student (you can find this in my LinkedIn): “Before contacting Shiva, think twice. And carefully… Only do it if you are ready to know the worst part of you; only do it if you want to be aware of your deepest assumptions and prejudices; only do it if you want to treat people as they would like and not as you would like; only do it if you are ready to know that you are the same as everybody else in the world but everybody else is different as you. Do it if you want to change. But especially do it if you want to be a better human being. Shiva has changed me and has changed my life. People like her make the world a better place”

– What do you like most about your profession?

I love the amount and diversity of humans I meet and the variety of opinions, worldviews, beliefs, stories and assumptions they have. I love traveling, meeting and working with leaders across the world and realizing they all have the same central fear: that they are not good enough. I love that I can face powerful people as equals because I know that as complex as we are, as different as our realities are, we are all just children pretending to be adults because none of us really know what to do.

«I know that as complex as we are, as different as our realities are, we are all just children pretending to be adults because none of us really know what to do»

– You collaborated in a selfless way with organizations that help immigrants and refugees, what kind of work did you do in them?

I worked as a Cultural Intelligence trainer for staff members and volunteers of refugee organizations and also as a Cultural Intelligence trainer for their clients.

– What projects would you like to do in the future?

Professional development through personal development is a really powerful service that isn’t so available for the general public. The chance to meet other next generation leaders who want to be better and do better, who are all from different companies, industries and roles, and working together on their professional development on their own terms – that is something very special. That is what I want to bring into the future. I want to help globally minded next generation leaders take control of their career and leadership so they can bring forward a healthier culture and leave behind a legacy they can be proud of. In short, I want to take the trainings I do for companies and open them up to the general public.

– A wish that you would like to come true

For more and more people to actively practice being better humans.

«For more and more people to actively practice being better humans»

More information

Shiva Roofeh – LinkedIn – Instagram – Twitter – Pinterest – TedxIEMadrid

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La entrada Shiva Roofeh – International facilitator, Speaker, Moderator, Program designer and Educator se publicó primero en YANMAG.

Lee la entrevista en español

«In journalism — and perhaps in life — there is no such thing as a definitive downfall»

Ignacio Peyró is writer, journalist, translator and Director of the Cervantes Institute in London. He carries out his assignments on political analysis, culture and gastronomy. As a writer he published Pompa y circunstancia. Diccionario sentimental de la cultura inglesa (Fórcola, 2014), La vista desde aquí. Una conversación con Valentí Puig (Elba, 2017) and Comimos y bebimos. Notas de cocina y vida (Libros del Asteroide, 2018) and Ya sentarás cabeza. Cuando fuimos periodistas (Libros del Asteroide, 2020).

He was founder of magazines such as Ambos Mundos and The Objetive, director of Nueva Revista and has published as a columnist in major national and international newspapers and magazines such as El País, El Mundo, ABC, La Vanguardia or National Geographic, among many others. For three years he is director of the Cervantes Institute in London with great success, managing to solve the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

In this interview we learn about his extensive professional career.

– You are a journalist and writer; When did you become interested in this profession and what does it mean for you?

I suppose I already knew it since I was little —as it was also known in the family— that I was not going to be an engineer or a veterinarian. On the other hand, journalism —that of newspapers— always caught my attention. Those were times when the mere act of «reading the paper» was still important, almost a civic and intellectual statement. Moreover, those childhood dreams need to go through the sieve of adolescence and early youth: most of those who wanted to become a guitarist or a poète maudit ended up in an agency or similar. Good or bad idea, I managed to become a journalist in the cultural field and also as a political correspondent. I cannot complain. Quite a privilege. Literature comes from somewhere else, although —as is traditional in Spain— one turns to journalism for an excuse for reading and writing.

«I was able to become a journalist in the cultural field and also as a political correspondent. I cannot complain. A privilege»

“You turn to journalism as an excuse for reading and writing”

– You collaborate as an opinion columnist in main national and international newspapers and magazines such as El País, El Mundo, ABC, La Vanguardia or National Geographic, among many others; what is it like to work for different media and in what way do you adapt your style?

That precisely is my idea —you can only collaborate with such different media when you contribute with your own voice. Another thing is also that your voice somewhat changes over the years.

– You are the author of  Ya sentarás cabeza. Cuando fuimos periodistas (published by Libros del Asteroide, 2020) —a journey thoughout your first years as a political correspondent in Madrid. Based on your professional experience, what advice would you give to yourself if you were to start again?

Well, how in journalism — and perhaps in life — there is no such thing as a definitive downfall.

– Always interested in culture, you were the founder and director of the magazine Ambos Mundos. What was the motivation to bring this project about?

We were contacted by UNIR, the International University of La Rioja. This was ten years ago, and I am glad some of the pens that later were to give more to talk about — from Bustos to Arias Maldonado — were already there. An anthology of the magazine was published in Renacimiento, by the way.

– You were director of the digital edition Nueva Revista and you co-founded The Objective, what peculiarities did each work have?

Nueva Revista is a historical magazine, founded by Don Antonio Fontán. The web was trying to attract new talent and I think that —along with a new website’s implementation— we did achieve. Now it is run by a great journalist, Juan Carlos Laviana. The Objective was always different: it was about finding the best pens for opinion in a newspaper that sought to host a wide spectrum of voices from distinct ideological families.

– Within political communication, you have been advisor to different personalities, what is it like to work in this area and what are the difficulties?

I liked it a lot, both for the human side —the theater of politics— and for what one could experience and, above all, what one could learn as a journalist interested in getting an idea about ​​how the world works. Working on it is fun, but not in the long term. The difficulties come both from the environment itself —whether it is quite competitive, internally for instance — and also from what Macmillan used to say: «events dear boy, events”. In other words, what is beyond our control.

«I liked it a lot, both from the human side — the theater of politics — and from what one could experience»

«Difficulties come both from the competitive nature of the environment itself and from what is beyond our control»

– Also within the field of communication, for five years you have been an advisor to the Presidency of the Government, leading the speechwriting Unit, how was this phase for you and what did it mean professionally?

An honor and pride and a great opportunity to learn about the complexity of public affairs. From Moncloa you can see the entire State. Of course, it is different to be in such places holding political ambitions and not, as it was my case. Of course, I deemed the possibility of a work like this — even if it later was not so cinematic — as unique. It is an entertaining job and at the same time requires a certain gravitas.

– In addition to being an English—language translator, as a writer you have published books related to British culture such as Pompa y circunstancia. Diccionario sentimental de la cultura inglesa (Fórcola, 2014) [Pomp and Circumstance. Sentimental Dictionary of English Culture] when did your attraction to the United Kingdom and its culture begin?

Well, I think anyone who is interested in fields like literature, architecture or politics will run into British doings here and there. I always liked it, but being an Anglophile is not incompatible with, say, being a Francophile. I just saw a book could be written — and a very long book — and the publisher supported it. But I came up to him with several different ideas.

“Anyone interested in fields such as literature, architecture or politics will run into Britishness here and there»

– You have been working as Director of the Cervantes Institute in London for three years, how was it moving to live there and work for this institution?

London is a great international capital, and at the same time a pleasant and demanding city, with codes to be followed. The Cervantes is a magnificent invention and an institution capable of doing invaluable work: we go, one by one, reaching the hearts and heads of people and we establish lasting links with the best institutions.

«The Cervantes is a magnificent invention and an institution capable of doing invaluable work»

«We reach out, one by one, getting to the hearts and heads of people and establishing lasting links with the best institutions»

– As a cultural manager, what is your assessment of these years at the helm of this institution?

We go full throttle. I’m quite happy. In terms of institutional dialogue, cultural programming and academic impact, I think we go at a very, very good pace — although quite demanding. And, as they say here, “the sky is the limit”: we must not be satisfied, there is still much room.

«I am quite happy. In terms of institutional dialogue, cultural programming and academic impact, I believe we go at a very, very good pace — although a quite demanding one”

«As they say here,»sky is the limit»: we mustn’t be satisfied, there is still a lot of way to go”

– How does Brexit affect cultural relations with Spain and how can these ties be strengthened?
It may be an opportunity to strengthen bilateral bonds. You see how today and not before we signed an agreement with the British Council. Yes, for instance it will do good providing measures that allow artists and companies to circulate without problem.

– What part of your professional career are you most proud of so far and what projects would you like to carry out in the future?

Cervantes Institute. What I’d like is to leave the center —which has always been fine— as it has never been so good.

– How is your life in London and your free time there?

Everything has changed so much with the pandemic. Before we had activities almost every night; now we still have them, but in front of the computer. Our human team performed admirably, with very high morale and commitment. This you may see not only in having kept the ship afloat —which may have been enough— but also in achieving enthusiastic adherence from our students and sustaining an ambitious cultural program. I think we will not be able to look at this period without some admiration and affection. For internal purposes —management, teamwork, commitment, commercial vocation— this catastrophe brought out the best in ourselves.
As for free time, a couple of Saturdays a month I liked going to places in England I did not know — this, before the pandemic. For the rest, reading and writing.

– A wish that you would like to come true

As a writer, what is always interesting is to keep writing — and reading — and publishing in good places.

«As a writer, what is always interesting is to keep writing —and reading— and publishing in good places»

More information

Ignacio Peyró – Twitter – Instagram

Cervantes Institute in London

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La entrada Ignacio Peyró – Writer, Journalist and Director of the Cervantes Institute in London se publicó primero en YANMAG.

«Few things impact and transform us more as individuals and as a society than a cultural experience

Versión en español

Valerio Rocco Lozano is a Philosophy Doctor and Professor at the Autónoma university in Madrid. His time in different management positions at the university provided him with a comprehensive experience encouraging him to apply for the direction of El Círculo de Bellas Artes cultural centre in Madrid.

His Italian-Spanish origin and international training gave him a deep vision of Europe, and this approach prevailed in his programming for El Círculo de Bellas Artes, which is currently implementing alliances with diverse European educational and cultural institutions.

In this interview we are discovering his intense and interesting career.

– You are Italian-Spanish, how did these two cultures influence your education?

In a decisive manner, I believe. Not only by having an Italian father and a Spanish mother, but also because of having an upbringing in both countries and both educational contexts which allowed me to develop a certain capacity for establishing connections (linguistic, cultural, social) between two areas that are partly similar but at the same time quite different. I lived  In Italy until I was three and then I spent six years between Luxembourg and France,  allowing me to immerse myself into French language and culture. From age nine my education was in Madrid: studying at the Liceo Italiano in this city (an excellent school, not only in humanistic areas but also in theoretical ones in general) was crucial for developing my passion for philosophy, art, literature and humanities in general. All of this concurrently to establishing bridges between Italy and Spain: Even today  when returning from a trip to Italy me and my (Spanish) wife keep on speaking some sort of “Itañol” [portmanteau of Italiano+Español – t/n] —a hybrid language built from feeling, play and irony.

– You speak five languages and you lived and carried through studies and research in several European countries. How did this international education enrich you?

Having learned English relatively early and then German (essential for what I already felt becoming my vocation: philosophy) effectively allowed me to conduct research stays —during my doctorate— plus living for long periods in Germany and the United Kingdom. Thanks to this I was immensely lucky to somehow realise a project of hybridization and cultural blending in myself which I consider indispensable for Europe. Especially these days of identities rearmament and border closures, centrifugal temptations (such as Brexit) and ultra-nationalist outbreaks, I firmly believe in the importance of “building Europe” from its citizens. For an often quite hybrid and transnational generation like mine —the “Erasmus generation”— that may be the best antidote to anti-European impulses,  and also to a merely bureaucratic and formal Europe.

«I had the immense luck to somehow realise a project of hybridization and cultural blending in myself I consider essential for Europe»

– You are a Doctor in Philosophy and professor at the Universidad Autónoma university in Madrid. How did you  become interested in this discipline and in Hegel particularly ? 

My love for philosophy started as a challenge, precisely during my years at the Italian Lyceum. Contrary to what happens in Spanish educational system, in that school philosophy was one of the most difficult, fearsome and respected subjects. And of the three intense years devoted to studying the history of philosophy, Hegel was unanimously considered the most complex philosopher (or most unintelligible one, depending on the recount). I believe this challenge of philosophy’s complexity in general – and Hegel in particular – was what led me to this wonderful profession.

«My love for philosophy started as a challenge»

– You held diverse management positions within the Autónoma university of Madrid, such as coordination of the Master in Philosophy of History: Democracy and World Order or Vice-Dean for Research, Knowledge Transfer and Library of the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature. What skills had you to develop for these positions?

Management tasks have multiplied exponentially for any university professor in recent years. This is perceived by many – not without reason – as a serious problem for it compromises the essential missions of any teacher: teaching and research. However, I believe that management also has an important educational component, with great utility in other fields of life. Take for example the case of organizing a congress: today any university professor must take care of everything: from programme setup to budget devising, funding requests, text translations, organizing presentations, travel and hotel bookings to even putting up posters … If this is such a complex thing to do for a simple congress, directing a research project (even more if it is an European one) is even more demanding, becoming more and more comparable to company management. In addition, for those of us who for a number of reasons embarked directly on university management it allowed us to develop numerous abilities for budget control, team management, international and institutional relations, and above all skills for «political» negotiation within quite different fields (such as Science Faculties or corporations). In my case, the challenge of a four year coordination of Research and knowledge Transfer from the Vice Dean in a Faculty with 450 professors and 70 research groups represented a definitely multifaceted and enriching learning.

– All your projects had an international purpose. Also, working at the Autónoma university  you developed an investigation with significant support from European funds on the concept of «Failure» in Modernity. How was this project carried out?

The request for the Failure project. Reversing the Genalogies of Unsuccess —which was granted to us (in the first round!) by the European Commission within the framework of Horizon 2020— was an extraordinary adventure, spawned from two elements “as much difficult as they are rare”, as Spinoza would put it: In the first place, an genuinely transdisciplinary mind-set, that is, the pooling of historiographic, philosophical, literary and artistic approaches to investigate a concept as complex as failure throughout the Modern Age. This allowed us  to form a quite young, dynamic team around the Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies (MIAS) of the UAM [Autónoma university] and its director, Antonio Álvarez-Ossorio, eager to break down the barriers between departments and fields of knowledge. The second determining factor —in my opinion— was a balance between attention to the past (the gestation of the concept from the 16th century) and its possible current applications: our idea was and continues to be that only by deeply understanding the mechanisms of ascription of the failure «label» to individuals, groups and communities it becomes possible to develop public policies and intellectual strategies to reverse the processes of marginalization, stigmatization or exclusion that always accompany «failure(s)». Thanks to these two elements (hybrid approach and social commitment) we have been able to develop a very ambitious project, financed with a budget of 1.4 million euros, bringing together 11 prestigious European and American academic institutions and a hundred participants from all fields. If all goes well, soon the Círculo de Bellas Artes will also join the Project as another member, something that —for personal reasons— makes  particularly excited.

«Our idea was and continues to be that only by deeply understanding the mechanisms for ascribing the failure ‘label’  to individuals, groups and communities is it possible to develop public policies and intellectual strategies to reverse those processes of marginalization, stigmatization or exclusion»

– How did your relationship with the Círculo de Bellas Artes begin? 

My personal relationship with the Círculo dates back to my years as a university student: at that time it was a point of reference for me and many fellow Philosophy students. Not only did we attend conferences, debates or the screenings of the Cine Estudio, but oftentimes we just stopped by Calle Alcalá 42 to see what was going on that afternoon or to have a drink in the cafeteria. Later, during the Doctorate I organized several congresses and events at the Círculo: I particularly remember a presentation of the book Thinking Europe —edited by me along with Diego S. Garrocho— in which Gianni Vattimo, Ángel Gabilondo, Teresa Oñáte, Félix Duque and other personalities took part, something quite  thrilling for me. My relationship with the Círculo intensified as of 2014: that year I received a call from my predecessor in office, Juan Barja to intervene in the start-up of SUR. School of Artistic Professions  —a fascinating educational project (and one still enjoying excellent health) which the Círculo undertook together with La Fábrica. Being able to conceive and teach (along with other colleagues, great friends) such innovative and stimulating theoretical subjects from philosophy and art such as «Sequences», «Analogies» and «Resources» was one of the many things I am grateful to Juan Barja for, who has always been a reference point for me intellectually as well as personally. When the Board of Directors identified me as a possible candidate for the Directorate of the Círculo in sight of the imminent departure of Juan, I obviously felt overwhelmed but also quite enthusiatic, precisely in virtue of that intense personal relationship that always bonded me with this institution. Being chosen, after a long selection process, was a veritable honor: I was granted a leave of absence by the Autónoma University (where I continue to teach in the Master of Philosophy of History) and here I am a year later as exhilarated as the first day despite it was a quite complex year.

«Being chosen, after a long selection process, was a real honor»

«Here I am, a year later thrilled as the first day, even though it has been a quite complex year»

– What was your project for the Círculo and what course are you taking the institution towards? 

The project I presented could be summarized in three concepts: internationalization, youth and innovation. Firstly I consider very important strengthening the international presence —especially in other countries of our continent— of the Círculo de Bellas Artes, which by the way holds the status of Casa Europa. For this we are working on different lines: creation of international alliances, communication beyond our borders and above all request for European projects. Secondly, I deemed essential to strengthen the bond of younger generations with the Círculo: for some reasons, today our institution has not fully managed to reach ages less than 35. Through a commitment to online activities, a more tailored content towards the interests of the youngest and a new communication policy we believe we are achieving our objective. Finally,  commitment to innovation —understood as a transfer (and not merely a disclosure) of research. This axis of the project involves a series of relationships with Spanish and foreign universities we are already unfolding through various initiatives. These three axes are complemented with other very important elements of  transversal nature, such as a greater presence of women in our programming plus special attention to the great challenges of our time: environmentalism, feminism, digital transformation, migration crisis and radicalisms of diverse kind.

«I consider it very important to strengthen the international presence—especially in other countries of our continent— of the Círculo de Bellas Artes — which by the way holds the status of Casa Europa»

– You took part in the creation of CIVIS —a network of European universities— what does it consist of and what link does it have with the Círculo?

CIVIS. A European Civic University is one of the great “European Universities” recognized by the european community institutions in recent years: an alliance of eight higher education centers sharing teaching, research and social involvement projects. I believe these types of alliances —which allow the generation of multilingual and plurinational learning and research areas— constitute the future of the university and are very important for the construction of Europe: that is why I consider myself fortunate I could contribute to this project leading one of the working groups of the consortium from the UAM. By the way, I believe similar initiatives are extremely important in the field of culture. In a few weeks – if the pandemic allows it – I will travel to Berlin to a meeting at the Akademie der Künste to promote one of such projects: the Círculo will become one of the founding members of the Alliance of Academies —a network of european cultural centers with a vocation for social transformation. For this kind of network I believe the experience of «European Universities» such as CIVIS will be quite valuable.

«the Círculo will become one of the founding members of the Alliance of Academies —a network of european cultural centers with a vocation for social transformation»

– During your student days you were critical of companies gaining entrance into university. From your experience in management at the Autónoma university and at the Círculo, how do you understand now the relationship between public institutions and private companies?

In my time as Vice Dean at the UAM I already realized there is no point in demonizing the relations between public research and the private sector: usually—in my experience— agreements reached between them are quite beneficial for both. Now, from the Círculo de Bellas Artes, I mantain this conviction: in fact, we promoted different collaboration agreements with several universities, including an industrial Doctorate project with the Autónoma university of Madrid: between the CBA (in this case, a private institution) and the UAM (public university) we will train a doctoral student to investigate the concept of «critical innovation» —a crucial notion for the artistic and humanistic field today. By the way, the Círculo itself is a strange and successful mix of public and private: we are a private, non-profit entity declared of public interest. Only 7% of its budget comes from public institutions, but at the same time we have a Board of Trustees (Ministry of Culture, Community of Madrid and City Hall) which is essential for us.

«The Círculo itself is a strange and successful mix of the public and the private: we are a private, non-profit entity, declared of public interest»

– You are interested in expanding the concepts of Innovation and Transfer in relation to Culture and Humanities. Do you think these terms have been appropriated by Science and Technology ?

Of course. In the humanistic and cultural sphere, there is a certain objection to using concepts such as «innovation»: but the result of this resistance (which may have good theoretical reasons, I cannot deny it) is that now thinking of «innovation» we usually identifiy it with mere technological or digital issues. I believe that this term (as well as others: i.e. «creativity» or «impact») must be «reconquered» [regained] for culture. Few things transform and impact us more as individuals and as a society than a cultural experience (a book, a film, an exhibition, a conference). From philosophy and the arts, for example, one may not only answer a question or apply a theory but transform the questions or refute the theory. There’s nothing more innovative than this point of view.

«From philosophy and the arts you may not only answer a question or apply a theory but transform questions or refute the theory»

– What adaptation is the institution undertaking to meet the limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic?

In addition to adapting to the new seating capacities and other provisions to achieve un utterly safe enjoyment of culture —something we are fully prepared for towards the 20/21 season— I am especially proud of the activity we enhanced during confinement : During those months we transferred  to online format our conference cycles (Los Lunes Al Círculo), our activities for members (with online workshops of several disciplines) and our exhibitions (one of them —that of Alfonso Berridi— even had a «Virtual inauguration»). On our website we developed specific projects to reflect on the times we are living, such as the Glossary of the Pandemic. We made available to users a large number of publications, concerts and events. Statistics show that during confinement we tripled the number of visits to the web; Furthermore, the average age of web users lowered by 23 years. Both data suggest we managed to capture the interest of younger generations without losing that of the more experienced. Now, after the reopening, we hope we’ll be able to physically welcome this varied public (with all safety measures) in our building on Calle Alcalá.

«On our website we developed specific projects to think about the time we are going through, such as the Glossary of the Pandemic»

«After the reopening, we hope we manage to physically welcome this varied public (with all safety measures) in our building on Calle Alcalá»

 – How is your free time?

In addition to my delight in travelling, my free time has always been bound up with enjoying Madrid’s incredible cultural offer: theater, cinema, exhibitions, concerts … Ever since I assumed the leadership of the Círculo a large part of my free time has taken place right there: not only out of duty but  also out of passion that I spend several afternoons a week taking pleasure in activities we program. In any case, being with my wife and two-year-old daughter  is my favorite way of enjoying free time.

– A wish you would like to come true

It may seem a bit «Faustian» but it would be this: «never stop wishing».

It may seem a bit «Faustian» but it would be this: «never stop wishing»

More info

Valerio Rocco – Twitter

Círculo de Bellas Artes – Twitter

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La entrada Valerio Rocco Lozano – Director of El Círculo de Bellas Artes, Philosophy Doctor and Professor se publicó primero en YANMAG.

Lee la entrevista en Español

«Your perspective changes when you empathize«

Pablo Sánchez is an international volunteer and co-founder of the NGO The Health Impact.

His work in different international non-governmental organizations helping refugees in the Balkans, Greece and Lebanon provided him with enough experience to see the shortcomings  migrants confront on a daily basis.

He stands up for small but highly impactful local humanitarian projects –those in which the volunteer has a very close and personal relationship with refugees, where a rapport  as equals is established without paternalism.

With this purpose he has just founded, along with his partner Allison Randles Moss, the organization The Health Impact with which they intend to promote health education among refugee camps in order to improve  families’ life quality.

– What is your training and why did you decide to work helping refugees?

I am currently finishing my degree in Political Science at the Complutense University Madrid. However, the training in humanitarian aid that I have been acquiring all these years has not come from the academic environment. It comes from the hours and hours spent with different organizations, with people who sought to create the same change as me, learning from the thousands of stories I was told and the experiences I have had.

The decision to start working with migrants did not come overnight but was developed over time. One of the main reasons was the appalling treatment of this crisis I witnessed in the media. Migrants have always been considered simply numbers by the media. Anyone that tries to flee from war and misery is dehumanized, stripped of a name and the unique story that every person has.

If this refugee crisis happened in a European country, we would watch it on the news twenty-four hours a day and it would generate great empathy for the displaced people. But now instead we decide to feed a hatred and a xenophobia that create a climate of fear and rejection.

I decided to go to Greece to work with organizations on the ground, as soon as I realized I was not doing enough to help the people in this extreme situation.
In my own neighbourhood – in Madrid – I worked regularly with the Escuela Popular and Prospe 16, but I decided that this had to change, that I should have a more active role in this situation.

I have realized that your perspective changes when you truly empathize and realize that what the refugees are suffering through, could be happening to you. That it could be you and your family who had to run away from home. It’s when you see beyond those numbers projected by the media.

«You realize that what the refugees are suffering could be happening to you»

– You have worked and developed projects in different international organizations, how was the experience?

In every case the experience has been different, the groups of people are different, as the way they work. I have learned that there are hundreds of projects that provide assistance and mean a lot to the people to whom they support.

Aid manifests itself in different ways: from giving food and water, providing medical attention to young people who have been beaten and robbed trying to reach Europe, to teaching English to children and adults, or doing activities with the little ones giving some free time to exhausted mothers.

Sharing time with these people changes you. You listen to their stories and their current situation and your heart drops. You empathize and cry with them, and then they are the ones that try to comfort you. I remember when in Sarajevo, Bosnia, we went to a community centre where about twenty families lived with their children. They had been there for months and months, with nothing to do but wait. A group of volunteers dedicated themselves to trying to make their lives more bearable as they were stuck in the camps, unable to get to the border. For many families it was an impossible crossing to attempt because the extreme violence that the Croatian police often inflicted at the border would endanger their young children.

I sat to work in the common dining room, where everyone came and went and where Faraz (name fictitious) regularly approached to chat. His English was not particularly good, but the helplessness he conveyed when he spoke did not need words. He came from Afghanistan and had to flee with his two little girls to avoid the same tragic end his friends and neighbours had suffered.

In his helplessness I saw my own father, his fragility and his humanity. I saw my neighbour with his two daughters or my uncle with my cousins. I saw myself.
Being able to be witness to what is happening gives you the most strength to continue. Knowing and seeing what happens to these people as they flee, you cannot ignore it, it pushes you to work and try to do all you can to help.

«Being a first-person witness of what happens is what gives you the most strength to continue»

«Knowing what happens there, you cannot ignore it and pretend you did not know of its existence»

– What have you discovered about yourself while working on these projects?

Being in extreme situations that you never imagined living in, forces you to pause and deal with a thousand different thoughts and feelings. It forces you to sit down and start thinking “how am I digesting all of this?«

It helps you to get to know yourself when you work under enormous pressure, overcome a thousand unforeseen circumstances and adapt time after time.
Also -and I think this is very important to know for all the people who work as collaborators- this makes you understand that all that misery is not your fault, that it does not depend on «I could have done more». Even if you are not going to reverse the situation, you do change the lives of many people. And they yours.

«The extreme situations that you would never have imagined living in force you to know yourself better»

«Although you are not going to reverse the situation of the refugees, you do change the lives of many people. And they yours.»

– What differences have you found in the situation of refugees in Lebanon, Bosnia, Serbia and Greece?

In both Greece and Lebanon, refugees have been stationary for years, since the very beginning of the war. People have settled in these two countries and now are trapped with little ability to improve their situation. They are forced to simply try to survive and earn some money for their families, while they continue to wait for relocation papers after requesting asylum in a safe place. Receiving help with basics like food or shelter is more common there than it is in countries like Serbia or Bosnia, where refugees are trying to reach the borders of Europe on foot.

Those in the Balkan countries trying to reach the EU are in constant motion, aiming to move as quickly as possible since living conditions are extremely difficult.
During the winter the possibilities of dying on the road increase exponentially, so the cold often delays the journey. Those who undertake the trip towards Europe are generally young men who are able to withstand punishing temperatures, go days without eating and drinking and exert a’ tremendous physical effort. This is something that families with young children are not capable of enduring.

The capability to attempt the “game”, which is what the attempt of border crossing is often called, depends fully on their current condition. Even if their own circumstances are right, the refugees never know what they might encounter during the ‘game’, yet they are forced to continue to play, with their own life at stake.

Normally it is the families that financially support their children, sending them the little money that they can from their home countries. Families often cannot afford to make the trip all together, so one or two will go at a time.

– Why are there refugees who remain in camps for years? What is failing in global politics in this matter?

They are forced to leave their country for fear of being killed, this desperation leads them to accept any safer destination as acceptable. Better to sleep on the street than under a roof that may be bombed. When forced to leave so quickly and without a plan established, they go anywhere they know or where they heard a friend or neighbour went. After fleeing, there are few places that will accept them, and this is when they are seen, caught in a field or a settlement for years, waiting for the situation to improve.
Lebanon, for example, does not allow the creation of official refugee camps or permanent structures in order to prevent refugees staying long term and to try to get them back to their home country. Similarly, Turkey, the country that is home to the largest number of refugees in the world, receives money from the European Union to keep the borders closed and prevent people from moving to Europe, keeping them drowning in poverty-stricken camps.

«Turkey, being the country with the most refugees in the world, receives money from the European Union to support refugees and prevent them from going to Europe»

EU policies shaped by institutional racism, do not allow refugees inside, despite the promises made at the start of the crisis to host and welcome a number of those in need.
At the same time, it is incomprehensible how Spain complains about its emptied towns and cities, while in turn wants all the immigrants out. The same thing happens with low birth rates, which seems to be an alarming problem to pay pensions in a few years. Seeming to ignore the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of families living in absolute poverty in refugee camps waiting for a decent future period.
There are hundreds of thousands of out-of-school children living in dire conditions, and EU countries could fix it if they wanted to. Yet they all fail. There is example after example, and daily evidence showing how the European Union fails with its racist and xenophobic policies.

«They all fail. There is daily evidence of how the European Union fails with its racist and xenophobic policies.»

– Having worked on the ground, what is the most effective way for help to reach refugees? What needs are the most urgent for these people?

Frankly, volunteers and money are needed the most. Material shipments can be very expensive, and volunteers struggle to bring many items with, so physical donations received from Spain often cost more to ship than to buy locally. The large NGOs operating can often handle the logistics of manoeuvring donations internationally, but often what helps smaller groups the most is a monetary donation.

The small local organizations, seemingly more humble and smaller, are often the ones that can be the most effective. The volunteers put everything they have into their commitment and dedication to the work. A close, personal relationship is established between the refugees and volunteers. It is not only is the physical help that is vital, but in these cases, personal contact and emotional support are essential: listening, understanding, caring.

«It is not only the physical help that is provided in these cases, personal contact and support are essential: listening, understanding, caring»

What these people need most is to get out of the camps and relocate to someone safer and more stable. But until that happens, health and education problems are the most urgent. Our current interest is the former of the two, helping people stay healthier now so they are not burdened with illness later. Lack of safe drinking water, clean streets, proper shelter and other factors can cause infections and illnesses to proliferate. A simple cut or wound can escalate and lead to a major problem.

We are often unaware of how lucky we are with a public health service like the Spanish one, where little things like a cold or a wound are taken care of quickly. While in Lebanon we went three times a week to a settlement, holding English classes for young children. One day it was brought to our attention that one of the students had cut the bottom of her foot with glass, and a piece of glass was stuck in her foot. As the days went by, she developed an infection and it could be seen beginning to spread through her foot. Luckily, my partner, a nurse from the United States, Allison Randles Moss, helped treat her so the infection didn’t go any further.

Now that they are giving so many guidelines to people in Europe on how to wash their hands, how to disinfect surfaces, what to do to avoid contagion and the spread of the virus, it is clear that people need guidelines on how to do all this. This is happening in countries with high standards of living, legal minimum wages that generally do not drop below 800 euros, and where conditions are infinitely better. Imagine how this situation is unfolding in the hundreds of Lebanese settlements and in the thousands of refugee camps around the world. It is chaos. Projects like this are essential, especially to such vulnerable people and with so few resources.

«Health and education problems are the most urgent, our concentration is on the former so that the lack of health information does not lead to serious issues”

– You work in collaboration with Allison Randles Moss, how did you meet your partner and you and why did you decide to start working together?

We met in Lebanon, while both working for the same organization. While going to the different settlements to carry out educational projects for children we saw the difficult conditions in which they live and how diseases, infections and other health problems were left untreated due to lack of information. They are forced to live amongst garbage and waste because overwhelmed local institutions that are unable to help.

We saw an enormous number of children who regularly developed colds, skin infections and other diseases. All of them could be helped with a cheap and simple treatment in Spain but this same access is not available to the refugees there. The majority of these cases are frequent and predictable, therefore, with education and prevention can hopefully be avoided.

We decided to start doing something and developed a health care promotion and education initiative.

– This project has materialized in Health Impact, an NGO to help refugees, what stage of development are you in?

At this point we are defining what the projects will look like and setting goals and priorities based on the money we have, the which at the moment is very limited. As it is the beginning of our financial campaigns, we need more support than ever in order to move forward.
It is a project with humble but well-defined goals, we focus on improving the daily lives of these vulnerable people by directly improving health at the source. We are establishing direct education initiatives between equals, seeking to solve problems that have otherwise been ignored.
We believe in our mission, we have a clear path, and we can reach our goals, but we need support to carry it out.

“We believe in our mission, we have a clear path, and we can reach our goals, but we need support to carry it out.”

– What is the mission of  The Health Impact? What kind of employees and workers are you looking for?

We aim to improve health through education. That is the basic idea of ​​the organization. We want to give people the tools and knowledge so that communities by themselves, with the limited access they have to health resources, can avoid the illness and dangers that lurk in the settlements. By teaching health promotion techniques, we help people avoid needing to seek expensive treatment, an option that often forces families to choose between paying for food or for medical treatment.
In this current situation we are unable to provide a proper house to live in or a return home, but we can try to make life a little bit easier and more bearable by keeping people as healthy as possible.
The sooner we have everything ready to go and adequate financing that supports our work, we can begin to improve the living conditions for communities.

«Improve health through education. That is the basic idea of ​​the organization»

The people we would love to have on our team should want to contribute compassionately to others, we want people who can see each case individually and be sensitive to the people we are going to help.
We hope that they be patient, with a desire to learn and grow, as we want people to take this project as their own and participate in it as much as they can and feel driven to. Although anyone with a background in healthcare is ideal, we are not looking for just one thing in particular, and everyone is welcome to apply.

– How are you working on The Health Impact financing?

At the moment we are drawing up strategies to achieve our objectives. We are seeing what we can do to reach more people, not only to make our project more visible, but also to give a voice to the people we want to support in Lebanon.
In order to finance the project, we are creating a crowdfunding page. Through our fundraising efforts we are sharing stories of Syrian refugees who are suffering through the consequences of war.

We aim to show how crucial every piece of aid is to these families and show the more human side to the refugee crisis. The communities that are suffering because of the conflict are made up of normal people and families. This seems obvious to say but is often forgotten after news reports only show hundreds of dehumanizing numbers and statistics every day.

We are looking to reach people who want to support a humble project, but one with a great capacity for action.

Right now, we are researching how to meet our needs and planning how to work sustainably into the future.

Communication and funding are very interesting parts of the project, as we try to spread a call to action for people to step up for families in need. We need to show people how vital and indispensable this work is, a reality we hope people will be able to easily see through our campaigns.

Our goal is to have people be moved to help us by simply making the reality of the situation more visible, showing that it can no longer continued to be ignored.

We strive to share information about our projects directly and simply, showing what we do and how we work with full transparency, so every donor and volunteer can see exactly what their support is doing and the impact it has. We place tremendous value on every euro that is donated to us, because we know that many people make a great effort to be able to contribute.

This communication work is essential for us, by presenting an alternative, positive and realistic narrative to stand against the constant bombardment of contradictory and xenophobic messages by the media false news about migrants and refugees.

By showing our work to the world, many things can be changed.

«In order to finance the project, we are creating a crowdfunding page»

«By showing our work to the world, many things can be changed»

– Given your experience with different international NGOs, what aspects you would like to replicate in your organization, and which would you keep away?

It is important that we build an organization that people take on as their own one, that advances because of the work of each individual volunteer and donor, that makes each person feel essential to changing a terrible situation.
Both in our work and in the way  we communicate, we want to personalize each situation, speak with proper names through each case and situation, and show that we are people who work with people.
Absolute transparency in our work is essential, to show that everything we ask for support in, is vitally important.
It would be a failure for us to reproduce some of the dehumanizing treatment that we have seen occur in large NGOs there. Although they are aiming to defend the rights of refugees, not every case is treated with care. It is something you cannot imagine happening when you are in Spain, and it is a shock when you get there and see what happens every day.
The occasional negative actions can taint the name of people who work tirelessly and anonymously to do a great job in smaller NGOs in the Balkans and Lebanon with whom I have worked.

«We want to personalize each situation»

– In your experience working with refugees, what stories or Situations have marked you more with them and what people do you not forget?

The first time I worked with refugees was in Greece. There, almost three years ago, I met boys my age who had to leave Palestine, Iraq, and Syria in order to have a future, a job, a life. I remember clearly the moment I was listening to their stories and they strongly reminded me of my friends and myself. The things they were laughing about, joking about, make you realize that we are the same, that you could be the one who had gone to their country and had been forced to live in the conditions in which they do now. It hurts to see them suffer through so much misery and violence. I cannot not forget them, their stories, their names or their faces. It is what drives me to keep working every day.

Nor can I forget a Syrian family I met in Lebanon. They did not have an overly different or more moving story than many others, but I did spend a lot of time in their house, where I was made to feel as one of the family. I loved being with them, drinking tea, listening to everything they had to say… their worries and concerns. I loved feeling like a part of the family and welcomed, just like I would with my own family in Madrid. It is difficult to see all of it, to be so aware that we are equal as people, and then to see the injustice of the situation. No one deserves to live like this.

– What advice would you give to a person who wants to start working as a volunteer helping refugees?

I would recommend that they do no rush into it and not to place blame on themselves. Something that is difficult to prevent is the feeling that working in this area generates for people. There is an emotional part that becomes involved and so often ends in the volunteer suffering with tremendous personal guilt «for not having done enough» as happened to me when I returned from Greece. I came back very affected by my experience.

None of us are going to be able change the situation of migrants by ourselves, that’s why we organize together, as a team the efforts multiply and the results are much better.
To consider the option of going to work to improve the problem is already a great step forward. Once you discover the daily reality of people who are fleeing their country, you cannot ignore it, and the more people involved to help, the better.

«To consider the option of going to work to improve the problem is already a great step forward»

– How would you like to see your organization and your work within 10 years?

In 10 years, I would like to see us with a job already completed, and families no longer living in settlements, at least in one region. Although it sounds very typical, the number of families who have told me they want to go home is incredible. If they were able to return, that would mean that the conflict is over and that they can go back to where they call home. Still, we have a long road ahead before that, and it would be naive to think that in ten years’ time these innocent civilians would not still be falling victim to armed conflict. For our work people’s support is essential to continue, I would like to see an organization that maintains a human connection with those we serve and maintain a positive impact on the area with the people who put all their effort and dedication into it.

– Do you have any free time?

I do have free time. I try to take time to see friends, spend time with my parents and with my sister, to do sports and study. While I do have full dedication to all of this, I believe it is just as important to remain healthy and take care of myself. I am conscious of how important staying healthy is to be able to continue and help others. The better I feel, the more strength I will have to carry out this project.

– A wish you would like to come true

That there would be governments that put the interests of the poor, of the average person, above their own interests and those of the rich. Containment of refugees at the European border does not solve any problem, only worsens it. We need to stop ignoring and stop doing nothing.

«That there would be governments that put the interests of the poor, of the average person, above their own interests and those of the rich»

More info

The Health Impact

The Health Impact in Twitter @TheHealthImpact

Pablo Sánchez LinkedIn´s profile

Pablo Sánchez in Twitter @pablosanchezvol

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La entrada Pablo Sánchez, International Volunteer and Co-founder of The Health Impact se publicó primero en YANMAG.