Pablo Pakula
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    • Performance (intro)
    • ellipsis
    • INOCENTADA: inocentes, inocentes
    • FISTMASS
    • (untitled lament)
    • No place like ___
    • UNPRECEDENTED
    • a necrology: REQUIEM - DONA EIS - PROBASTI ME - TINTINABULATION - DELINEATUM EST
    • Thy light, thy flight
    • ALL TOMORROW'S TOMORROWS
    • ALL WITHIN A COLLAPSING BUILDING (a septet for the apocalypse)
    • BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (un réquiem refugiado)
    • 20 x 20, swings x roundabouts
    • ANGELUS: Angels de Beer
    • YES NO BLACK WHITE
    • RAVE vs RAGE
    • Bride of Brexit
    • UNNEGATIVE
    • Masculine Expressions of my Creative Prowess >
      • About this project
    • No More These Sounds
    • HEAVY LIGHT
    • Lines and lines and lines and lines...
    • Now You Can Go
    • The Speed of Reason Produces Warning Hallucinations
    • S.o.S.S. (Sisyphus on Salisbury Sands)
    • VIDEO PIECES
    • LAND PIECES
    • MAIL PIECES
    • COLLABORATIONS
  • Pedagogy
    • Pedagogy (intro)
    • WARM-UP TO PERSONA
    • ghosts in the m-AI-chine >
      • ChatGPT-Pina
      • ChatGPT-Kaprow
    • Arte en Acción
    • GALERA PERFORMA
    • Stomping Ground!
    • Live Art for the Green Heart
  • Producing & hosting
    • Producing & hosting (intro)
    • Deep Trash Escoria
    • Theatre, Interactivity, Democracy
    • Pot Luck
    • Lifting the Curtain: On Audience and Authorship
    • Lifting the Curtain: Theatre Research @ Kent
    • Grotowski: After-Alongside-Around-Ahead
  • Publication
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​BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (un réquiem refugiado)

WINDWARD & LEEWARD (a refugee requiem)

 20/08/2020
Centro Cultural Las Cigarreras, Alicante (Spain)


(English text below)

​Esta pieza, que une el arte y el activismo en un gesto de visibilización y denuncia, fue comisionada por la ONG Solidaridad Internacional en el contexto de su proyecto “Frontera Mediterráneo: los Derechos Humanos a la deriva”.  
​
BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (un réquiem refugiado) aborda, de forma asociativa y poética, la vulneración y precariedad de los Derechos Humanos en las realidades migratorias de la frontera sur de Ceuta y Melilla, y en el Mediterráneo central. La pieza busca abrir un espacio límbico y meditativo que, dando prioridad a la empatía y la involucración activa, sirva para que el público reflexione sobre este complejo tema.

Sin embargo, como artista intento rehuir de la noción de tener un ‘mensaje’. La palabra ‘mensaje’ es problemática porque, para empezar, se suele utilizar en singular – como si la obra de arte tuviera sólo una cosa que el público tiene que captar. La publicidad y la propaganda sí tienen ‘mensaje’. En mi trabajo me interesa más plantear preguntas y activar la subjetividad de cada espectador, invitándoles a encontrar otras formas de ver, de entender, y de sentir.

Inspirándose en la estructura y solemnidad de un réquiem, la performance combina textos y música con un lenguaje atávico de acciones directas y viscerales. Utilizando una estética de bricolaje, a través de un proceso casi alquímico, materiales pobres y escombros adquieren resonancias semióticas, peso emocional, y un carácter totémico.

BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (un réquiem refugiado)  busca abrir un espacio plural donde se reproduzca una multiplicidad de voces. Soy muy consciente de mi condición como hombre blanco, cis género, con pasaporte español, cuyas experiencias están
 muy alejadas de las realidades que la pieza aborda. Por lo tanto, me parecía importante que la obra incluyera a otros, a otras voces. Con esto en mente, he buscado la colaboración de diversas personas, incluyendo aquellas con experiencia migratoria o involucradas en ONGs, para la creación de algunos de los textos. Textos que, recalcando su diversidad, fueron leídos en parte por el publico que asista la performance. 
Picture
​The piece, which unites art and activism in a gesture of visibility and denunciation, was commissioned by the NGO Solidaridad Internacional in the context of their project "Mediterranean Border: Human Rights Adrift".
       BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (a refugee requiem) addressed, in an associative and poetic way, the violation and precariousness of Human Rights in the migratory realities of the southern border of Ceuta and Melilla, and in the central Mediterranean. The piece sought to open a limbic and meditative space that, giving priority to empathy and active involvement, might serve for the audience to reflect on this complex subject.
Picture

However, as an artist, I try to reject the notion of having a 'message', particularly when it comes to a loaded subject such as this one. The word 'message' is problematic because it is often used in the singular in the first place - as if the work of art had only one thing that the public had to grasp. Advertising and propaganda do have a 'message'. In my work I am to ask questions and activate the subjectivity of each viewer, inviting them to find other ways of seeing, understanding, and feeling.

Inspired by the structure and solemnity of a requiem, the performance combined texts and music with an atavistic language of direct and visceral actions. Using a DIY aesthetic, through an almost alchemical process, poor materials and debris acquired semiotic resonances, emotional weight, and a totemic character. 
       BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (a refugee requiem) hoped to open a plural space for a multiplicity of voices. I was very aware of my condition as a white, cis gender man, with a Spanish passport, whose experiences are very far from the realities that the piece addresses. Therefore, it seemed important to me that the work should include others, other voices. With this in mind, I sought the collaboration of various people, including those with migration experience or involved in NGOs, for the creation of some of the texts. Texts that, emphasizing its diversity, were read in part by the public attending the performance.
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  • Home
  • About
  • Performance
    • Performance (intro)
    • ellipsis
    • INOCENTADA: inocentes, inocentes
    • FISTMASS
    • (untitled lament)
    • No place like ___
    • UNPRECEDENTED
    • a necrology: REQUIEM - DONA EIS - PROBASTI ME - TINTINABULATION - DELINEATUM EST
    • Thy light, thy flight
    • ALL TOMORROW'S TOMORROWS
    • ALL WITHIN A COLLAPSING BUILDING (a septet for the apocalypse)
    • BARLOVENTO y SOTAVENTO (un réquiem refugiado)
    • 20 x 20, swings x roundabouts
    • ANGELUS: Angels de Beer
    • YES NO BLACK WHITE
    • RAVE vs RAGE
    • Bride of Brexit
    • UNNEGATIVE
    • Masculine Expressions of my Creative Prowess >
      • About this project
    • No More These Sounds
    • HEAVY LIGHT
    • Lines and lines and lines and lines...
    • Now You Can Go
    • The Speed of Reason Produces Warning Hallucinations
    • S.o.S.S. (Sisyphus on Salisbury Sands)
    • VIDEO PIECES
    • LAND PIECES
    • MAIL PIECES
    • COLLABORATIONS
  • Pedagogy
    • Pedagogy (intro)
    • WARM-UP TO PERSONA
    • ghosts in the m-AI-chine >
      • ChatGPT-Pina
      • ChatGPT-Kaprow
    • Arte en Acción
    • GALERA PERFORMA
    • Stomping Ground!
    • Live Art for the Green Heart
  • Producing & hosting
    • Producing & hosting (intro)
    • Deep Trash Escoria
    • Theatre, Interactivity, Democracy
    • Pot Luck
    • Lifting the Curtain: On Audience and Authorship
    • Lifting the Curtain: Theatre Research @ Kent
    • Grotowski: After-Alongside-Around-Ahead
  • Publication
  • CONTACT