“We have made a monument for the vanquished, for those who have no voice and have not been able to tell their story.” The phrase is ratified by the filmmaker Miguel G. Morales and the artist Eugenio Merino as a summary of the reasons that led them, in the middle of this month, to undertake the action of depositing a commemorative plaque in the bay of Santa Cruz. At a depth of 400 meters and facing the Valleseco coastline, right in the place where the poet and socialist politician from Tenerife, Domingo López Torres, was thrown into the sea after the Francoist coup d’état in 1936. Even with the more or less exact coordinates –28º28′ North, 16º, 13′ West–. But it is not only a tribute to the figure of who would be the Lorca of the Canary Islands, but to all the reprisals of the Franco regime, in particular those who were the object of that terrible model, widely used in the Archipelago, of being thrown alive into the sea within of a sack full of stones by the fascist, Falangist Brigades of Dawn…
The authors delve into what should be more appropriately spoken of as a counter-monument in the sense of making visible the invisible who suffered the defeat and the devastating story of the victors in front of the Francoist vestiges that still remain, and there are quite a few, in the capital of Tenerife. He questions them under the Atlantic Ocean, black and gloomy, the plaque that reads Monument to darkness, a simile of those bodies that were disappearing into the depths of that chicharrero sea much deeper than expected and desirable. Literal and metaphorical concept.
The recording – the artists insist that “it is not a documentary” – is presented this Saturday as part of the XI Lanzarote Art Biennial, which opens today and will run until March 2023. The curator Carlota Álvarez Basso presents it with the explicit title Long night of stone.
In addition, in this context, the manuscript of the poems Lo unpredicto is exhibited for the first time, which López Torres wrote in Fyffes (a banana warehouse converted into a prison in the capital of Tenerife where he was before his transfer to the Santa Ana prison ship– is considered a work pinnacle of Spanish poetry with illustrations by Luis Ortiz Rosales, also a prisoner. Luchi Morín Reyes has kept this jewel for all these years, in addition to photos and letters. She is the daughter of the woman who was engaged to the poet.
Eugenio Merino and Miguel G, Morales have a long history that converges in two lines. On the one hand, that of the Madrilenian in his effort to bring to light what was called historical memory until the other day and now acquires an unnecessary value of democracy over the repression after the military coup of 1936 that gave rise to the War Civil. On the other hand, that of the Orotavense who, unfortunately, contributes the strength that between 1,500 and 3,000 reprisals give in these small islands, a real barbarity compared to their proportions.
The work reveals a model of repression, that of throwing the beaten bodies of persecuted people alive into the sea with a sack full of stones. Systematically buried as if they were never meant to be born. A system created and promoted by the Nazis in Germany, developed by fascism between the two world wars, perfected Franco and copied – well and even improved – the dictatorships of Argentina or Chile.
The work reveals a model of repression, that of throwing the beaten bodies of persecuted people alive into the sea with a sack full of stones. Systematically buried as if they were never meant to be born. A system created and promoted by the Nazis in Germany, developed by fascism between the two world wars, perfected Franco and copied – well and even improved – the dictatorships of Argentina or Chile.
We have lost. Or not. Let’s return to the bay of Santa Cruz on an ideal day of light and temperature in mid-August. The artistic initiative has all its development in this sought after environment. The artists thought of depositing the eight kilo bronze plate directly, but it was not an easy task. The weight is approximately the same as that of the stones placed in the sacks to drown the prisoners in the sea. That’s why they turned to professional divers. The video recording was also in charge of the award-winning underwater photographer Francis Pérez, and the sound was the responsibility of Fabián Yanes.
Let’s get back to the message. On an island where you live with the vestiges of Franco, Tenerife, “outside the law -because the law must be followed- and protected by de facto powers”, explain the artists, inserting the precise place of the assassination of Domingo López Torres into the popular imagination and turn it into a memorial under the sea. For him and for all missing people. A way to activate a new meaning of the sea as a mass grave.
The action is part of the work presented this Saturday at the XI Biennial of Lanzarote
Morales and Merino highlight the collaboration of researchers who defend Historical Memory, such as Ricardo García Luis, Ramiro Rivas, Aarón Álvarez or Luana Studer. They also appreciate the collaboration of Yolanda Peralta and Nilo Palenzuela. But they do not forget the fundamental reference to oral history, that of fishermen or anonymous and humble people who give their testimony of the facts,
The Canarian Lorca
The artists accept the comparison, with nuances, of Domingo López Torres with Federico García Lorca. Commitment, intellectual level and abrupt end of the snatched life coincide in both profiles. A difference: «The intense political activity of López Torres was not carried out by García Lorca».
Of humble class, formed from the base and linked to the workers’ struggle. A son of his convulsive time, the first half of the 20th century.
The coup d’état of July 18, 1936 and the systematic and planned Francoist repression left between 1,500 and 3,000 people dead or missing in the Islands. The forced drowning method was one of the most common. Among his victims was López Torres assassinated by the infamous Brigades of Dawn. Linked to surrealism, he was the founder of the magazine Index and collaborator of Gaceta de Arte. His manuscript The unexpected is considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish poetry of the time. It will be exhibited for the first time as part of the installation next Saturday, September 3 at the hermitage of Tías, within the XI Lanzarote Art Biennial.
The authors recall that the project has been possible thanks to the dialogue established with people who have investigated the Historical Memory of the Canary Islands for years and thank the cultural manager Carlota Álvarez for her collaboration.
‘Counter-monument’ to the darkness under the sea questions the visible vestiges of the Franco regime
The profile of the artists cannot and should not be missing. Explain in this sense the trajectory of Eugenio Merino (Madrid, 1975) linked to the exploration of the stories of political and economic power with a focus on ideology or the violation of human rights. In recent years he has focused his practice on memory and the visible trace of the dictatorship in contemporary Spanish society.
For his part, the filmmaker and visual artist Miguel G. Morales (Tenerife, 1978) is situated on the periphery of non-fiction with an investigative and essayistic nature. Loneliness, the recovery of Historical Memory, the decontextualization of the archive at the service of power, the invisibility of the working class or environmental activism guide a line of work shown at festivals and national and international art centers.
Domingo López Torres (1910-1937) is not the true protagonist of this story. At least not the only one, he Solo is a symbol that represents all those who, like him, were retaliated against “the other day” for his ideas in Tenerife and the Canary Islands. A tribute to them.
Poet, intellectual, politician, socialist… Person and character
He was only 26 years old when they murdered him by throwing him into a mass grave in the sea that terrible year of 1937. The feeling of his lyrics could illuminate an entire island. Letters, poems, drawings, photos and a manuscript, The Unexpected, written in the Fyffes prison make up the legacy of Domingo López Torres, poet, Santa Cruz councilor and surrealist artist. He figures prominently as a privileged representative of this avant-garde trend. He was part of the so-called Gaceta de Arte generation and in 1935 he hosted André Bretón and other surrealists at the movement’s II Congress. Just in parallel to the fascist conspiracy that arises in Tenerife itself. Socialist in the sense of the 30s of the last century, that is, communist. There was only one word on his file: “Dangerous.” He says it all. | jdm
Recognized at last in his city
Santa Cruz de Tenerife dedicates a square to the poet -and much more- Domingo López Torres. The granting of honors from the city of him was publicized with great fanfare in June 2019 after the agreement of the municipal plenary session on November 30, 2018. “Perpetuate the name of the intellectual in the memory of the people of the capital.” It was the goal and it does not seem that it has been fully achieved. The space, whose inauguration was presided over by the then – and now – mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, is a square located in the Los Gladiolos neighborhood. Many years before, the former councilor of Sí se puede in the Consistory, Yaiza Afonso, began a fight to give her the place she deserves in her hometown. She proposed the square attached to the headquarters of the Development Society, next to Ángel Guimerá street, because he lived in the area. She did not receive support and that place later became the Plaza of the Victims of Terrorism. Years later the reserve of honors moved to the Los Gladiolos neighborhood. Of humble people, workers and with the vindictive struggle for the flag. The ones that the forgotten intellectual always defended. López Torres would be happy. | jdm
