An oral history project that is creating powerful video postcards to recover and preserve the legacies of prominent Spanish and Latin American women of the 20th century has been honoured at a special celebration in London.
Academics, students and contributors to the CartasVivas project at the University of Exeter were invited to meet the Spanish Ambassador and other prominent dignitaries at the Spanish Embassy last week.
There, the project - which translates to 'voices from history' - was celebrated for creating an online library of filmic capsules for educational institutions around the world.
It also marked the release of the three most recent CartasVivas portraits, which focus on a trio of painters born in Madrid in the early 20th century. The stories of Delhy Tejero (1904-1968), Teresa Sanchez-Gavito (1918-2000), and Amalia Avia (1930-2011) bring the total number to 16 since the project's launch in 2019.
Sponsored by the Santander Foundation, CartasVivas is directed by Nuria Capdevila-Argüelles, Professor of Hispanic Studies in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies at Exeter.
She said: "From the outset, our ambition has been to create a library that could be used by schools, colleges, and universities for teaching and research and for the general public too. Today, we can say that we have achieved that goal. Every week, we receive enquiries and requests from educational bodies who want to engage with the project and that is testament to the impact it is having.
"To be recognised by the Spanish Embassy, which is very active in promoting Spanish culture, was a special moment for the project team. And to have some of our students there, and the actors who have brought these women to life, made it an even more poignant occasion."
More than 100 people attended the two-and-a-half-hour reception, introduced by José María Robles Fraga, Minister Counsellor for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Embassy of Spain; and by Mr Borja Baselga, Director of Santander Foundation. His Excellency Mr José Pascual Marco, Spanish Ambassador, was also in attendance and led a Q&A session.
Professor Capdevila-Argüelles spoke about the project and screened one cartaviva from each of the new series, which have been developed through the team's archival research of women's letters, memoirs, interviews, and other memorialistic writings.
From these biographical insights, Professor Capdevila-Argüelles develops the script, which is filmed at the University's Digital Humanities Lab. The historical figures are played by professional actors, with Exeter Phoenix leading on post-production.
Student interns play a key role in the translation process of the Spanish script into English subtitles, and visiting scholars and PhD students also make key contributions. The project has also been embedded in the Department's teaching, with up to 50 students each year conducting their own CartasVivas, led by project producer Dr Isabel Santafe.
"CartasVivas is an exemplar of research-informed teaching and how we can use our expertise to create public engagement," said Dr Santafe. "Through the project, we are recovering the private histories of these important thinkers who lived at the social and literary avant-garde of life in Spain and Latin America."
Representatives from the Spanish media attended the event, along with partners and stakeholders of CartasVivas, including the British Spanish Society and the Instituto Cervantes of London.
"The Embassy of Spain in London is working on the recovery and dissemination of key figures for the art and culture of our country, both present and past," said José María Robles Fraga. "We believe in the importance of giving visibility to all those voices that have so often remained on the margins of official history, and that we are now recovering.
