Granada marks 90th anniversary of Lorca’s death with eleven free events

Since then, Lorca has become a symbol of the tragedy that Spain experienced during the Civil War. Now the Federico García Lorca Foundation, Poetas and Kekejian are holding a tribute to mark the anniversary between 15 and 18 October.

This tribute, in the form of a requiem, enjoys broad institutional support. It will consist of eleven events with free admission subject to availability and is directed by Maral Kekejian and Pep Olona.

“Requiem for Lorca is a collective ode to loss, a celebration of mourning and an act of remembrance and hope for Granada,” said Olona. “As the symbolic thread running through the project, Rosa de la muerte (Rose of Death), created by Federico García Lorca in 1934, structures and gives its name to the four acts of this project,” says Maral. The series begins with an exploration of crying through various artistic expressions.

AY is a sound and performance piece for solo voice on stage, performed by Rocío Márquez, in which flamenco, poetry and vocal experimentation come together around a single exclamation: ‘ay’.

The theremin, invented in 1920, is the oldest electronic instrument to have survived to the present day and the only one that is played without physical contact. In this piece, Javier Díez Ena performs Mozart’s Lacrimosa and expands it into new sonic territories, transforming the air into a space of memory.

A collective concert that will bring together a number of musicians and singers from the city of Granada to perform a repertoire which the public can join in.

Lament has a long tradition in Mediterranean culture. Under the direction and accompaniment of Ramón Rodríguez, participants from various groups at risk of social exclusion are working together to compose a choral song using their own words and drawing on their own experiences of loss. And they will sing it together through the streets of Granada.

Ana Buitrago and Teresa Garzón, choreographers and artists from Granada, are creating a piece in a public space in Granada centred on the body and movement, inspired by one of Federico García Lorca’s most evocative and profound poems.

An original production composed for the occasion by Guille Galván, drawing on Mozart’s Lacrimosa and the city’s deeply rooted sounds, to honour the memory of all the civilian victims of the Civil War. Two hundred voices from Granada, alongside a cast of guest artists, sing on Plaza de las Pasiegas in a collective act of remembrance.

Designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, the Cant de la Sibil·la lives on in tradition as a song whose origins are lost in ancient times. Performed by Mariona Sagarra and the Nubah Choir.

Repetition. Doing what has already been done, which is mass-produced and reproduced at an ever-increasing pace. Creation, vocals and lyrics by Carmen Camacho and Rocío Márquez.

There are two great works on the theme of loss that time has rendered indispensable: Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías by Federico García Lorca, and Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On Saturday evening, Granada Cathedral will bring these two pieces together in a single rite of mourning.

Hope amidst the tears, the pain and the loss. At dawn, the city’s poets will read from the Carmen de los Mártires. At midday, attention will turn to the Alhambra, where, to the tolling of all Granada’s bells and the final chime from the Torre de la Vela, the sky will fill with colour and smoke, like the city’s final breath.

A reading by eight poets reflecting on life and death: Alberto Cortés, Ángeles Mora, Coro Nubah, Erika Martínez, Juan Andrés García Román, Luis Melgarejo, María Eloy-García, Rosa Berbel and Sara Torres.

The final verse, ‘Air for your mouth’, from Rosa de la muerte is one of liberation and brings this four-act Requiem for Lorca to a close. After water, earth, fire and air. The breath that remains when pain becomes memory and sorrow becomes love. At 12 noon on Sunday, the bells of the Torre de la Vela and several churches in Granada will ring out simultaneously.

Tickets will be available for collection on 6 and 7 October. Each person may collect a maximum of two tickets per event. They will be available from Isabel la Católica theatre from 12 to 2pm and 5 until 8pm and from the Federico García Lorca Centre from 11am to 2pm and from 5 until 8pm.

Click here for further information.