Pau Maragall
POLYPHONIC MEMORIES FOR A SHARED PRESENT #2
In the third and final episode of this miniseries on the Vídeo-Nou collective, Lluïsa Roca, Luisa Ortínez, Xefo Guasch and Carles Ameller explore the material, experiential and sociological circumstances that led Vídeo-Nou to make way for the Servei de Vídeo Comunitari in 1979, and to the disbanding of the group in 1983. In their second incarnation, the group gave rise to new working dynamics that we explore here by revisiting projects such as Renfe-Meridiana (1981) and Los jóvenes de barrio (Young People from the ‘Hood, 1981), while also highlighting the importance of the group’s education and training activities at the time. Emotional testimonies, almost like a coda, recount the recovery of lost video tapes, years after the group had disbanded, as well as the acquisition of the material by MACBA. The conversation also turns to the sometimes complex dynamics that occur when a project conceived as a device for social intervention enters the spaces of art. If there’s one thing that Roca, Ortínez, Guasch and Ameller are absolutely clear on, it’s the fact that archives must be completely democratic and accessible to all. This one’s for you, Xefo.