AND THE STAR – THE DOVE TOOK FLIGHT
—————————–Zebra Crossing——————————–
To my good friend, the incorruptible Jordi Rovira Soriano. A couple of years ago, faced with the magnificent display of ‘estelades’ at the September 11th National Day demonstration, the desire to have one hanging on my balcony, my ignorance of where to acquire one, and the precarious economic situation I was in—a bitter fruit of the crisis and the collapse of my foundation’s project—I felt compelled to paint one myself. I did so by placing one of the ‘senyeres’ we display for festivities on our home balconies onto a wooden panel. What I painted on it was the ultramarine blue triangle and the white star, with subtle gleams around it. Afterwards, I enriched the stripes with small brushstrokes, which distinguish it from other ‘estelades’. Jordi Rovira, the journalist and historian with whom I have initiated a thousand projects and completed several, and who always closely followed my artistic evolution, was the first to see it hanging on the balcony and to photograph it. This year, after signing the manifesto of visual artists for the right to decide, which was delivered on June 30th to the President of the Parliament of Catalonia, Nuria de Gispert. Just a few days ago, I received by email the posters created by artists Ferran Garcia Sevilla, Enric Pladevall, Francesc Aleu, and Joan Rabascall, concerning the Right to Decide, for ‘ARTVEUIVOT’, a proposal by the historian and art critic Pilar Parcerises, an invitation to join this stimulating project. In 2012, when this inspiring revolt began, I had already created a ‘Plegat’ for the Mensula Studio team, one side of which was dedicated to ‘Experimental da Vinci’ and the other to the joyful demonstration of the National Day. I regretted not having written about the subject, which truly deserves it, and on several occasions, I mentioned it to Jordi Rovira, as we often did while conversing in the middle of Plaça de la Font. However, since I discuss it extensively in the text for the second edition of ‘Lorca, the Incognito Visit’—a project in which Jordi was directly involved from the beginning, indeed, he was its initiator—and with the events surrounding November 9th accelerating daily, I had not found the right moment to dedicate myself to it. Jordi told me not to force it, that I would surely find the right moment. Little did he know that this moment would coincide with his death, and that I would dedicate this text to him. It must be said that the posters sent to me from Barcelona were compelling enough to inspire me. To create my own, I used the same wooden panel where I had painted the ‘estelada’; fortunately, it still bore the marks, and in a way, the spirit that transformed the ‘senyera’ two years ago. The paint marks left by the bubble wrap I used to cover the panel, so that the ‘senyera’ fabric would not stick to it due to paint seepage, reminded me of groups of people arranged in rows, seen from an aerial perspective. I painted them in colors, and added more, until almost the entire surface of the painting was covered, as well as the symbolic remnants of the blue triangle. Above it, the white star. I began by cutting it out of paper to see exactly what space it would occupy on the painting. I attached it with a piece of sealing tape, and thus moved it around the painted, dry surface. The easterly wind blowing on the balcony caused one of the star’s points to lift and almost fold back on itself. This, along with the fragility and trembling of the paper, gave me the impression of a bird, a dove. When you see the star on the ‘senyera’ in the wind, it also creates this impression. In 1994, while working on the presentation of the ‘Identidades’ exhibition, concerning Salvador Távora’s play that explored the parallels between Andalusian and Catalan culture, at the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona, I met Raimon at Passeig de Gràcia station. He was going to visit Ovidi Montllor, who was already very ill. During our conversation, a burning topic inevitably arose: the uproar caused by some crude comments from the ‘Real Academia Española de la Lengua’ regarding vernacular languages, with direct reference to the Catalan language, compounded by the ignorance that all languages not foreign are vernacular. I told him that these people, referring to those who had made the comments, were unaware of the history and the distinctive Catalan fact, and Raimon replied that they were indeed very aware of it, but simply did not accept it. The best thing, he told me, is to ignore them and do your own thing. I replied: ‘And this is how we must live our entire lives? And those who come after us too? No!’ I gave him my best regards for Ovidi. He told me, ‘Josep Maria, it is a permanent, exhausting, relentless struggle.’ And he set off on a journey to Valencia, and from Valencia to Alcoi, to bid farewell to his colleague and friend, the singer Ovidi Montllor. For three hundred years, this year marking the tercentenary, Catalonia has carried, in parentheses, the designation of ‘Conquered Land’. It would be appropriate to add, fragmented and distributed among neighboring states as spoils of war, often threatened in its distinctive features, such as its language and culture. – There is a question that has been on my mind for a long time, and no one answers it: Does the concept of ‘Conquered Land’ never expire? Never? – As soon as I finished the poster, I called Jordi Rovira to come and see it. I also sent him this text, as I often did because his opinion commanded all my respect, and if I had any doubts, we would resolve them together. He came home with his son, the inspiring young Jordi. The poster enthused him, and since he had his camera, he photographed it. He sent me the image by email a short while later, and it is the same one that accompanies this article. On the poster, the four stripes have dissolved into the enthusiastic crowd, as if they were a shower of confetti at a memorable celebration. Finally, I painted the letters ‘VOTEM’ in red, using my ever-renewed typography, and all at once, the star-dove took flight. ———————————————–Josep Maria Rosselló————————————————–
