On the occasion of the exhibition Renau in exile IVAM organizes an international seminar that brings together experts and researchers whose lectures will connect with the exhibition in different ways. Some lectures provide a contextualized and broader look at the exile, others focus on Renau’s relationship with other friends and artistic environments, or with the specific creative forms with which Renau worked during his exile (mainly mural painting and photomontage). Without the intention of being exhaustive or conclusive, this seminar intends, however, to open conversations and bring together experts to jointly discuss topics of interest and to emphasize the connection between professional, geographical and linguistic areas.

All the presentations are unpublished, and the intention is to include the research shared in the exhibition and the catalog in the debates. In this way, the seminar pretends to recover the figure of Renau, and explore his life and career. Like this we try to demonstrate his importance in the twentieth century, as well as the relevance of his work today. Aside from the five lectures, the seminar will close with a panel discussion featuring three experts whose primary research on Renau focuses on reviewing his earlier studies, his biography and/or his work from the 1930s. All of this will be analyzed through the retrospective lens of Renau’s exile, and the lessons learned from the exhibition.

PROGRAM:

Thursday, October 21, 2021

• 05:00 pm– Presentation of the seminar by Nuria Enguita, director of IVAM.
• 05:15 pm– Presentation of the seminar and introduction of the topics by Jordana Mendelson, director of the seminar.
• 05:30 pm– Online conference by Jordana Mendelson, director of the seminar.
  Topic: Social Function of the Advertising Poster (1937/1976) by Renau: Theory, politics and design before and after the exile.
• 06:45 pm– Round Table.
  Topic: Review of Renau in the 30’s, from the perspective of exile.
  Participants:
  Albert Forment. Josep Renau: A communist artist in exile.
  Carl Henrik Bjertröm. The publics of Renau.
  María Rosón. The muralism of Josep Renau: from the Spanish war to exile.

Friday, October 22nd, 2021

• 12:00 pm– Lecture by Carmen Gaitán Salinas (U. Complutense / CSIC)
  Topic: Journey by Journey. Renau’s daily life in Mexico according to Manuela Ballester
• 01:30 pm– Online lecture by Sebastiaan Faber (Oberlin College).
  Topic: Renau’s contradictions in the context of the Mexican exile.
• 05:00 pm– Lecture by Erika Wolf (U.Tyumen, Russia).
  Topic: The american works of John Heartfield’s distance students.
• 06:30 pm– Lecture by Oliver Sukrow (TU Wien, Technical University)
  Topic: New Spaces, Active Spectators and Complex Designs: Josep Renau’s Muralism in the GDR
• 07:30 pm– Closing of the seminar by Jordana Mendelson.