Empowering other futures through the synergy of history and poetry
A morning of activities at the Bellvitge-Gornal Cultural Centre in Barcelona, with the poet Mario Obrero and the historian Sonia Turón, bringing together historical memory and poetry as creative powers for new emancipatory narratives and forms of resistance. We’ll ask:
How can we nurture the radical imagination?
How can cultivate real hope for solidarity based action?
How can we foster and develop collective dreams that empower meaningful lives?
Saturday 9th November 2024
Centro cultural Bellvitge, Barcelona https://ccbellvitgegornal.l-h.cat
10.00-11.30. Documentary screening LIVING UTOPIA
12.00-14.00 Presentation by Mario Obrero and Sonia Turón followed by a colloquium with aperitif.
Open to all – free entry (Facebook event page here)
Combining presentations, discussion and screening of the documentary Living Utopia, we will explore the need to foster a radical imagination that can emerge from the roots of historical memory, that can empower an emergent vision for a just future.
Taking the historical example of anarchism in Spain, we will explore empowering realities, stories and narratives that can inspire us to overcome the limitations of the imagination that the neoliberal system tries to confine us within. While capitalism tries to define the horizon of what is thinkable, we’ll discuss how poetry can open us to new ways of thinking and imagining that can empower us politically and socially.
Our contemporary socio-political imagination has become feeble, almost incapable of breaking out of the limit of possibility imposed by late capitalism. Dystopian and apocalyptic narratives lead us to a dark and sinister future, with little hope for a way out. Frederic Jameson’s comment of 20 years ago still rings all too true: it is still ‘easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism’. The left seems to be a dead end, trying to analyse and understand the situation in which we find ourselves, but increasingly fragmented and divided within their our own bubbles. Simultaneously, the reactionary forces of the far right are reinventing themselves, creating effective narratives and strategies, becoming more and more socially accepted and normalised. In Gramscian terms, they are winning the cultural battle.
Today, more than ever, it is necessary to find the antidote to the advance of international reactionary forces. To this end, we believe that putting historical memory in conversation with poetry and the radical imagination can provide us with some pointers to get us out of the impasse facing progressive forces.
For the occasion, we will share the screening of the documentary ‘Living Utopia’, one of the precious jewels of our history. The documentary highlights the pedagogical work developed by the Spanish anarchists since they began their work for the social emancipation of all peoples. The anarchist ideals and their rootedness, which they carried out for about 150 years, brought to the world a light of hope to make a utopia a reality. What can we learn today from this historical case, where radical imagination has been taken further into practice?
After the documentary, Sònia Turón, a specialist in the historical memory of anarchism, and Mario Obrero, one of the most emphatic and committed poetic voices on the current scene, will explore the personal and social elements we need to develop an imagination capable of creating emancipatory narratives, futures worthy of being created from empathy, solidarity, love for others.
Sònia Turón: Sónia’s life trajectory, her militancy and her deep commitment to the memory and dissemination of anarchism open up a new hope for us: the hope of a history full of future. Sònia is a militant of the CNT in Hospitalet and president of Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo (FAL), recognised for its work in the dissemination of libertarian and anarcho-syndicalist culture. She is also a member of the Ateneu Enciclopedic Popular and the Ateneu Llibertari del Poble-sec. Sònia tries to contribute, from archaeology, history and documentation, essential tools for example in the Historical Memory Group of the CNT. She has translated ‘The future in your hands’ where Jean Grave explains his libertarian education project.
Mario Obrero: Mario was born in Getafe, Madrid and started writing poetry at the age of 7. He is an internationally recognised poet of revelation. He has produced for Spanish television, RTVE, the programme Un país para leerlo had participate in various radio programmes: Un poeta en París on RNE and later on Gente despierta. His published books include ‘Carpintería de armónicos’ with which he received the Premio Nacional de Poesía Felix Grande at the age of 14. With his book ‘Peachtree City’ he won the International Poesia Loewe Foundation Prize at the age of 17. His latest publication is ‘Tiempos mágicos’. In addition to his overflowing imagination, Mario stands out for his deep political commitment.