Graffiti in Granada in memory of Enrique Morente
By Ginette Lavell
April 26th 1937 was the day de German Nazi’s could, with the blessing of General Franco, try out their Luftwaffe bombs on the Bask town of Guernica (Gernika). 1600 people, a quarter of the whole population, died.
Even as a child, not knowing the background, I seemed to understand the heartache of the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso. The limp baby in the mother’s arms, the screaming horse. This was war, this was gutwretching suffering.
Today is the day of commemoration of the bombardment of Guernica. Coming wednesday is the International Day of Dance. I would like to take the opportunity to share with you this clip of last year’s performance of Josué Ullate dancing to ‘Guern-Irak’ by the great flamenco singer Enrique Morente. Ullate dances in front of Picasso’s famous painting. Morente wrote the piece inspired by Picasso’s work (the album is called ‘Pablo of Malaga’, referring to the artist). The title Guern-Irak brings the horrors and injustice of two wars, almost a century apart, together.
I believe Morente adds another dimension to the warning Picasso’s painting holds. The sounds are just as universal as are Picasso’s images and to me. The combination shows the power of universal languages like art, dance and music.
And this is, what I believe, what flamenco is all about: speaking all emotions, languages and ideas, crossing borders, cultures and disciplines making us maybe understand other people’s suffering and hopefully making us want to do something about it.
It is as urgent today as it was back in 1937.
Quiebro – Josué Ullate