Colita Flamenco

In 1962, Colita began a journey that would lead her to a world called “Flamenco”. She ventured into the gypsy world where, in spite of the poverty and misery she encountered, she experienced the joy they expressed through the most spontaneous and authentic dance and song. She met someone who would be one of the most important women in her life, Carmen Amaya, who had just arrived from Mexico to work in “Los Tarantos” and who would be the cause of an experience that would mean that nothing would ever be the same again in her search for emotion: “… I had never seen nor felt anything like it in my life. Something akin to a bedazzlement and an emotion that brought me to the verge of tears... From that moment on, you embark on a journey that has no end...”. These are Colita’s own words in the book “Luces y Sombras del Flamenco” (Lights and Shadows of Flamenco) in which, with text by J.M. Caballero Bonald, she shares moments spent with the people of an Andalusia that opened its homes, its patios, its very life to her. Unrepeatable moments captured in the photographs she took. From here, her journey took her to countless flamenco tablaos and stages, always searching for that unrepeatable moment that allowed her to photograph artists who made a huge impression on her life and on the history of this art form: Gades, La Chunga, Paco de Lucía, Mairena, Menese, Talega, La Piriñaca, Morente, Poveda and so many more. This exhibition, which features 70 photographs from her archive, will take us on a personal journey through a unique period of time, her own.

Francesc Polop
Curator