Author Archives: Fundación Loewe

The future of Poetry

The LOEWE FOUNDATION has signed a partnership with the Antonio Gala Foundation resulting in a promising joint undertaking by two entities dedicated to the advancement of Spanish poetic creation. The recently signed agreement establishes the terms of a collaborative endeavour seeking to promote poetry and support young poets.

Thanks to this initiative, the presentation of the next LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize winners will take place at the Antonio Gala Foundation headquarters in Córdoba, Spain. In addition, the Antonio Gala Foundation may grant one of its annual residency scholarships to the recipient of the LOEWE Young Poet’s Award. Through this international residency programme, the Antonio Gala Foundation houses eighteen young artists between the ages of eighteen and thirty at the Foundation’s headquarters from October to May, with breaks during the Christmas and Easter holidays.

This full academic-year residency allows participants to fully immerse themselves in their music, literature, visual art or plastic art projects, whilst interacting with artists whose specialty may lie in other disciplines, all in an open and highly productive environment. Javier Vela and Raquel Vázquez are two LOEWE Young Poet’s Award recipients who earned one of these residency scholarships in the past. In addition to enjoying an ideal setting to hone their creativity and do research work, participants are supervised by Antonio Gala Foundation tutors. Ben Clark, also a winner of the LOEWE Young Poet’s Award, is one of those tutors, a fact that helps strengthen the bonds between older and younger generations of Spanish-speaking poets.

The LOEWE FOUNDATION, which launched the International Poetry Prize in 1988 to promote and give greater visibility to poetic creation, is once again standing behind this literary discipline. Representatives from the LOEWE and Antonio Gala Foundations will meet to analyse the progress of Spanish poetry and jointly promote projects that benefit its creation and dissemination.

Photo Caption: Antonio Gala, at the entrance of the Foundation that has been named after him. The Antonio Gala Foundation headquarters in Córdoba, Spain. Courtesy of the Antonio Gala Foundation.

Raquel Vázquez, the dream of dreaming

Raquel Vázquez (Lugo, Spain, 1990) tells us how surprised she was when she learned she’d won the LOEWE Young Poet’s Award. “A few hours prior to receiving the phone call, I thought fleetingly about the Prize; about how much I wanted to win, yet how unlikely that possibility seemed,” she recalls. She had sent her submission encouraged by the make-up of the jury and the prestige held by both Editorial Visor and the LOEWE Foundation, but she confesses that she could have never imagined “the Prize’s enormous impact and the subsequent warm reception the book received.” She is “beyond grateful.”

Aunque los mapas —the award-winning book, which has also won the Radio Nacional de España Ojo Crítico Prize— hides much of Vazquez herself. The poet explains that writers “need to feed on memories, dreams, experiences, conversations, readings…. The words we write don’t necessarily have to tell a true story, not by a long shot, but we must always begin with our own experiences.” In order to convey truth and honesty, she adds, “the starting point is crucial because it’s what the reader will perceive; meanwhile, the amount of truth versus fiction is actually completely anecdotal.” She admits that in Aunque los mapas “there is a direct link between the personal journey that I have been on in recent years —one of reflection, disagreements, disappointments, and search— and the one the book recounts.”

Vazquez is still moved by the reaction of certain Jury members to her book: “For Gioconda Belli to highlight the way I close my poems or that my poetry is accessible yet refined is amazing. These are aspects I tend to focus on so it’s extremely gratifying when such an accomplished poet notices them,” she tells us.

La policía celeste, written by someone she “appreciates and admires” as much as Ben Clark, is the book she would choose from among previous winners as the one closest to her writing style. She also mentioned He heredado un nogal sobre la tumba de los reyes by Basilio Sánchez and Juan Antonio González Iglesias, Margo Glantz and Belli herself as the poets “who have left the biggest impression on me.”

Raquel Vázquez is already working on a new collection of poems. “There is some common ground with Aunque los mapas. Spaces, for example, still play an important role. But, as always, I try to go a step further: in the research and in the possibilities of language, both in form and in substance”. Vázquez, who likes to alternate between poetry and narrative, is working on a book of short stories and planning to get back to a novel she started writing some time ago: “I think the time has come to dive in and finish it.”

Sharing the limelight of the Prize’s 32nd edition with another woman —Aurora Luque from Almería— is nothing out of the ordinary. For Vázquez “what is significant is that it took thirty-two editions for both winners to be women. Or that, to date, only two women have won the main prize: Cristina Peri Rossi and Aurora Luque.” And, as if thinking out loud, she adds: “The current poetic scene in Spanish is extremely diverse and rich, with both men and women standing out equally. Here’s hoping that the Prize will continue reflecting the quality of poetry that is being written.”

CÁRDENO

No siempre fue el futuro ese animal magullado.
¿Cuándo perdió las alas y la risa?
¡Cuándo se marchitó su ladrido de aliento?

Pesa la herida más que la esperanza.
Y no basta la espera.
Pero tal vez sí el bálsamo
de balbucir una palabra indemne.

Aunque en este desierto cueste tanto decirla.
Aunque las referencias hayan quedado atrás.

El sueño de soñar algún día lo ileso.

Por si las jacarandas
irrumpen como puntos cardinales.

Por si la vida todavía fuera
ese árbol triste en que lucha una flor.

Raquel Vázquez
LOEWE Young Poets Award 2019
Aunque los mapas

Photo captions: Raquel Vazquez © Eduardo Fraile. Aunque los mapas, Colección Visor de Poesía.

Diego Doncel and Mario Obrero win the 33rd edition of the LOEWE Foundation International Poetry Prize

Diego Doncel, the winner of the 33rd LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize, is from Malpartida, a small town located in the Spanish province of Cáceres. His book of poems La fragilidad was chosen by a Jury presided by Víctor García de la Concha and made up of members Gioconda Belli, Antonio Colinas, Aurora Egido, Margo Glantz, Juan Antonio González Iglesias, Carme Riera, Jaime Siles, Luis Antonio de Villena, and Aurora Luque. The recipient of this year’s Young Poet’s Award is 17-year old Mario Obrero for his book Peachtree City, which he wrote when he was 16 years old, making this poet from Madrid the youngest winner in the history of the LOEWE Prize.

A total of 1,247 entries from 36 different countries were received, 25% of which came from Latin American countries. This represents an increase of 19.4% when compared to last year, a clear sign that the Prize gains traction not just in size but also in its reach. Going forward, the age limit for the Young Poet’s award will be set at 33 years of age, three years more than the previous age limit.

In reference to La fragilidad, the Jury stated that it is “a solid and well-constructed collection of poetry, both in the subject matters it broaches as well as in its approach.” Poet Jaime Siles highlighted “the vital and expressive maturity” the poems reveal, explaining that Diego Doncel’s “voice shows depth as well as a unique and personal view of our existence derived from a personal theory of what life means, making his diction more approachable, while demonstrating the way in which today’s civilization looks away from pain and death, but from the perspective of hope’s solidarity.” Siles also adds that “there is nothing superfluous or missing in the book”. Diego Doncel, who is from Madrid, is a poet and a writer of fiction and essays. He won the 1990 Adonais Prize, the 2015 Telefónica Foundation Tiflos Prize, and the 2015 Diálogo de Culturas Prize. His work has been translated into English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese.

HACIA LA FELICIDAD

Oye, desde tu muerte, el rumor del jardín
en esta tarde de junio, las flores suspendidas
en las fotos de los turistas, la transparencia
de los brotes como el tejido transparente
que cubre las piernas de esa chica,
toda esta geometría de la fragilidad.

El verano está ebrio porque no ha dejado de beber
desde primeras horas de la mañana. Va feliz
por las mesas de los bares o picotea en el agua
de la fuente un rectángulo de luz.

No hay ninguna arruga en el océano, ninguna huella del tiempo,
solo una superficie lisa en la que flotan, ingrávidos,
los barcos y los bañistas. Una mujer con un bikini celeste
sale chorreando la materia color caramelo
del agua, y va a donde tiene amontonada su ropa.
La playa huele a crema bronceadora, a marihuana,
a la cerveza de la claridad. La vida muere en una ola
y nace en la ola que se aproxima.
No es posible ningún pensamiento, solo este acontecer
diáfano de los sentidos, esta suspensión del yo.
Tal vez te moriste para que el dolor me haya traído
de nuevo hasta aquí, para encontrar de esta forma la felicidad.

La calma que nunca tuve se tiende ahora
sobre las superficies de las toallas, la pasión vuelve a volar
como un pájaro marino por los cristales de unas gafas de sol.

Viví tan lleno de miedo que no tenía refugio,
temí y destruí lo que debía amar. La muerte ensucia
lo que más se quiere, como los perros y los insomnios.

Pero solo quien conoce el agua y la tierra
sabe que guardan el secreto de la germinación.

Las huellas están detenidas en la arena mirando el horizonte.
La brisa empieza a quitarle ya el polvo al océano
para que pronto luzcan las estrellas.

Los libros están en silencio bajo las sombrillas, esperando.

Todo espera porque entre tú y yo puede haber noche pero nunca muerte,
puede haber lejanía pero nunca ausencia.
Este trozo de mar me lo enseñaste tú.
La sabiduría nos lleva a la infancia.

Diego Doncel
LOEWE Prize 2020
La fragilidad

Mario Obrero began writing poetry when he was 7 years old. In 2018, he won the Poesía Félix Grande Prize for his book Carpintería de armónicos and, in 2019, he published his second book of poems, featuring his own illustrations. He completed his junior year of high school in the U.S., in Peachtree City, Georgia, and is currently a senior studying Humanities at IES La Senda, located in Getafe (Madrid).

Poet Gioconda Belli, impressed with both Mario Obrero’s youth as well as the book’s “most unusual images”, highlighted “a poetic breath that captures globalisation’s cultural multiplicity” while producing “a surprising book of poems written with irony and acumen.”

 

(Sin título)

Cumplo dieciséis años con unas alpargatas de esparto y el sonido de las cosas escondidas
cumplo dieciséis años como quien apaga las tostadoras del paraíso cada mañana
como un nuevo padre que busca happy birthday en el traductor
las hogueras sobre mis sueños lejanos leen el horóscopo y dibujan caballos con su sangre
no pido grandes desfiles
cumplo dieciséis años pero tampoco es el Día Nacional del Guacamole
comeré cereales y tartas calientes y apio con crema de cacahuete
ataviado con chaleco de perejil y bajo el pestillo de las puertas siento a los pechos temblar
en montones de azúcar
cumplo dieciséis años y noto mi alma crujir como rodillas adolescentes
crezco y me veo tan dentro que los recolectores de azafrán repiten el pretérito imperfecto del verbo connaître
los poetas tienen una caja de lápices que abren cada atardecer mientras lloran en griego
bailo sobre una tierra y pronuncio lentamente mi nombre.

Mario Obrero
LOEWE Young Poet’s Award 2020
Peachtree City

The award ceremony will take place in March 2021 and the winning books will be published by Editorial Visor.

Photo Captions: Diego Doncel and Mario Obrero

Aurora Luque looks at past female role models

For Aurora Luque (Almería, Spain, 1962), winning the 32nd LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize has been “an honour, a responsibility and a source of inspiration.” The poet praises “the enthusiasm and effort the LOEWE FOUNDATION puts forward to promote the Prize and ensure the books reach critics and, most importantly, readers.” Luque hopes “it will set an example for others to follow.”

Gavieras, the award-winning book, is the newest addition to her prolific writing career; Luque, who is a classical philologist, poet, translator, and columnist, goes on to explain that Gavieras is not “all that different” from her other works. “What has become clear to me over the past few years is that an existence based on a fixed identity and linked to an unalterable language and status is being called into question.” Perhaps that is why “we need to focus on myths that are structurally different and that allow us to redefine or reconstruct the meaning of “identity”, particularly the female one.” For Luque, “the most attractive models are those that allow characters to change and evolve, to be in constant search, to be dynamic. When faced with past static individual and female models, why not dream of new, richer, less “still”, more fluid ones? The gaviera, the flâneuse, the gleaner, the neodanaide, the woman who narrates her descensus ad ínferos (traditionally told from the male perspective: Odysseus, Aeneas). Why not take inspiration from the experiences of past female roamers, travelers, game changers, disruptors, or women who have been displaced or been forced into exile?”

For Aurora Luque, the list of LOEWE Prize winning books is “a key compilation of recent poetry, with the best of the newest talent, not because they represent an official group, but because of the aesthetics that they uphold.” Something that is a source of great personal satisfaction, since “the very first readings of living poets that I attended at university were theirs: I remember seeing Jaime Siles, Antonio Colinas, Luis Antonio de Villena, Guillermo Carnero, and José María Álvarez walk into the Madraza in Granada. Listening to their poetry meant discovering entire new worlds.” Luque does point to what she calls “an objective novelty”: after Cristina Peri Rossi, she is only the second female to ever receive the Prize. “In that sense, I feel somewhat alone. I’m hopeful that will change going forward.”

In some of Gavieras’ poems, Luque reviews and rewrites ancient myths “with certain fierceness. Those with hushed undertones; where whispers abound. I focus on what the characters, particularly the heroines and goddesses, are not telling us: Amphitrite, Danaides, Medea, Eurydice, Aphrodite, the anonymous prehistoric “goddesses.” Luque also adds that “myths represent language and I question the pitfalls of language; the ways in which it provokes or imposes silence.”

The refugees, according to Aeschylus

Sand between the toes
We didn’t know of knots or about oars.
We learned rigging tasks
on the fine sands of the Nile, by the sea.
Of all the misfortunes
we chose the noblest,
to escape freely.
We travelled, like Io
escaping from the beds where Eros
sowed horseflies, jealousy, asphyxia, landlords,
The ship is our floating agora.
We sail searching for the city
—You are looking for a city?
— Oh, yes, we want it. We can build it.
We know how to build
altars. To Athena the seafarer
we pray in Rhodes
with our free lips.
Do not grow up in the houses
caverns of rude Cyclops.
We long to search for fountains
in the Earth’s clean entrails.
May our orchards never be watered
by Ares’ blood.

Aurora Luque
LOEWE Prize 2019
Gavieras

Poem Translation by Orlando Ocampo

Photo Caption: LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize © FUNDACIÓN LOEWE, 2019.

The 4th edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize has been postponed

Given the reach of the Covid-19 pandemic, the LOEWE FOUNDATION and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris have decided to postpone the 4th edition of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize.

LOEWE’s commitment to craftsmanship, one of the House’s priorities, remains unchanged. As such, the LOEWE FOUNDATION has launched a series of online events and workshops through the Fashion House’s Instagram account, with LOEWE EN CASA as a standout production whose aim is to showcase different crafts to a worldwide audience.

The annual Craft Prize was launched by the LOEWE FOUNDATION in 2016 to celebrate excellence and innovation in modern craftsmanship, and recognise artists whose talent, vision and innovation promise to set a new standard for the future. The finalists of the 4th edition have already been selected by Prize’s panel of experts and we hope to be able to celebrate their valuable creativity in the very near future.

Photo Caption: The LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize Trophy. Designed by Alex Brogden, 2016.

Craftsmanship & Experience

On 21st January 2020, the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize Jury convened in Madrid. Taking advantage of its presence in the Spanish capital, the LOEWE Foundation organized a talk on the subject of contemporary craftsmanship at the Paper Pavillion in the IE School of Architecture & Design, bringing together three members of the Experts Panel: Ramón Puig, Sara Flynn, and Koichi Io. The talk, which took place in English, was moderated by journalist Anatxu Zabalbeascoa.

During his welcome speech, Edgar González, Dean of IE’s Design School, highlighted three fundamental concepts that are at the heart of the LOEWE Foundation philosophy: innovation, tradition, and context. Sheila Loewe, President of the Foundation, introduced the talk’s participants by underscoring the effort put forth during the selection process that had taken place over the previous two days, as they had deliberated and chosen the finalists among more than three-thousand entries. Zabalbeascoa – Executive Secretary of Experts Panel and President of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize Jury – explained what had inspired the Foundation when organizing this talk: “We’ve always felt we needed to share all the information we are privy to: images, beauty, good intentions, the breaking down of barriers that is achieved through the work we do…. That is why we love organizing these talks, as much as we love having artists and artisans from all over the world teaching classes or participating in conferences.”

Koichi Io (Tokyo, 1987) embodies a commonality shared by many artists: family tradition. Because his father and grandfather are known metal artists, the concepts of dynasty, hierarchy, and evolution are very much present in all the pieces he creates. The Japanese artist identified three distinct processes that are integral to his work with silver, iron, copper, and aluminum: goldsmithing, casting, and engraving. He showed images of the different types of hammers he keeps in his workshop -anywhere between 200 and 300-, of which he uses 5 to 10 when working on his individual pieces. Koichi pointed out that, in general, he seeks “to eliminate the original function of an object” and then explained how, through traditional metalworking processes, he goes about his work, managing to get to the heart of his pieces.

Sara Flynn (Cork, 1971) studied at the Crawford College of Art & Design. Her workshop – of which she showed numerous images – is in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Flynn, who is one of the Panel’s expert potters, talked about how her mother’s approach to life’s problems had influenced her artistic development. Flynn learned to create with little means, taking advantage of random materials one might come across. The Erskine, Hall & Coe Gallery in Mayfair featured her first solo exhibition in 2012 and Flynn recognizes how important their support has been, as they have organized a biennial exhibition of her work since then. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for them,” she says. Flynn’s creative determination has been fundamental in her evolution as an artist, which begun with her first functional clay pieces.

Master Jeweller Ramón Puig Cuyàs (Mataró, 1953) symbolizes Spanish creativity and masterful craftsmanship with pieces that push the boundaries of traditional jewellery. Puig Cuyàs explained how he began making jewellery because he found that, generally speaking, it was uninteresting. While still unsure about what career path to embark upon and against his family’s wishes -who expected him to enter a more traditional field of study – he ended up in Barcelona’s Escola Massana. “When I got there, I felt like I’d finally found my place in the world. It was like being born again.” Although the relationship between a piece of jewellery and its owner is very intimate, the spirit of sharing and expressing was key for Puig Cuyàs. He tried to democratize his pieces by using less expensive materials and creating original pieces, evoking the primitive sense of ornaments, the spiritual sense of jewellery pieces, and avoiding the mere decoration of the body. He concluded by saying, “I feel free when I grab my coffee in the morning and head to my studio to work.”

The evening ended with the artists exchanging ideas about evolution and social change; they questioned the role of craftsmanship in our current field and the emergence of large-scale production and technology; Lynn explained that craftsmanship means “investing in a person over a long period of time and committing to the raw material used. It is a very real thing.” For Io, who produces no more than 30 pieces in a given year, “craftsmanship is like cooking: you have to chop and prep… you have to use your hands,” while for Cuyàs it’s “an alternative to industrial manufacturing, which focuses on low-cost mass production. A year after acquiring it, you are no longer interested in wearing it, while a handmade piece is something you treasure year after year and wear over and over again.” By contrast, he explained, “an industrial product has a price, but no value.”

Photo Captions: Contemporary Craft Talk. Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, Koichi Io, Sara Flynn, and Ramón Puig Cuyàs at the IE Paper Pavillion in Madrid.

Chance Encounters V – Art Basel Miami 2019

For the fifth consecutive year, the LOEWE Foundation continues its commitment to bringing together artists from various disciplines in unexpected conversations. Chance Encounters V, through the work of British artist Hilary Lloyd, turns LOEWE’s Miami store into a unique artistic space.

Colour and textile interventions created by Hilary Lloyd (b. 1964, Halifax, UK) – the main artist featured in this year’s edition – are accompanied by images recorded in and around her London studio, which are projected on monitors and screens, taking on a surprising prominence; curtains, frames, and other set-like objects create a space that seems to be activated by the viewer.

For more than three decades, Lloyd has worked and lived in London, where she experiments with film and video within sculptural installations; this exhibition at Art Basel Miami perfectly showcases her most refined work. The videos, which make use of repetitive movement, jump cuts, and sweeps, conjure both her own restless gaze and the experience of increasing speed that characterises the way in which we consume images today.

In and among Hilary Lloyd’s installation is the work of another British artist: Ewen Henderson (1934 – 2000) is one of the most esteemed members of an illustrious generation of potters that included Gordon Baldwin, Gillian Lowndes, and Ian Godfrey. Henderson’s large-scale ceramic sculptures, some of which are presented in this exhibition, were born out of his need to manipulate clay in order to reach total abstraction. The roughly-textured surfaces and layered colour of his pieces often resemble the stratified nature of rock or earth totemic works, evidence of his interest in Neolithic and ancient art.  The pieces presented lead to the perfect interdisciplinary and timeless dialogue between two fundamental artists.

‘The Chance Encounters exhibitions are an opportunity to create conversations across time between artists whose work resonates strongly with my own creative approach,’ says Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE’s Creative Director. ‘Hilary Lloyd’s work is perfectly attuned to the contemporary moment and the way in which we engage with the visual world around us. It stages a striking dialogue with Ewen Henderson’s bold materially-rich work.’

Chance Encounters V. LOEWE Miami Design District, 110 NE 39th Street, Suite #102. Miami, Florida, United States. Until 2nd February 2020.

Photo Captions: Installation view. Hilary Lloyd: Robot, The Shop, Sadie Coles HQ, London, 09 October – 07 November 2015. Hilary Lloyd, courtesy of the Sadie Coles Gallery, London. Ewen Henderson: Group of Standing Stones.

The female voice prevails in the 32nd LOEWE Poetry Prize

Gavieras, by Aurora Luque (Almería, Spain, 1962), has been awarded the 32nd LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize by a jury chaired by Víctor García de la Concha and made up of members Gioconda Belli, Antonio Colinas, Aurora Egido, Margo Glantz, Juan Antonio González Iglesias, Jaime Siles, Luis Antonio de Villena, and Basilio Sánchez, the 2018 Prize recipient. The winner of this year’s Young Poet’s Award is Aunque los mapas, by Raquel Vázquez (Belmonte, Lugo, Spain, 1990).

Today at the LOEWE Gran Vía store in Madrid, Sheila Loewe, the Foundation’s President, announced the names of the winners in the presence of both poets and a few Jury members. Víctor García de la Concha’s first words, spoken before reading the Jury’s minutes, were for Enrique Loewe, who was also present. For a number of years, they shared the joy of carrying the prize together.

Gioconda Belli presented Aunque los mapas, by Raquel Vázquez, the recipient of the award given to authors who are under 30 years of age, explaining that the Jury had unanimously recognized the maturity shown by this young woman. Her poetry “comes from a very intimate place, allowing her to create a world filled with images that dazzle because of their originality and depth. A world that speaks of encounters and losses without sentimentality”. Her poetry is “both accessible and refined ” and the Jury was able to identify endings “with strong and powerful images, such as the dancer who knows exactly how to move so that we remember her in our mind’s eye, even when we no longer hear the music”. Belli expressed how happy she was that “this country’s centuries-old tradition of writing great poetry” has survived among young Spaniards.

Raquel Vázquez, who was incredibly grateful, found it “difficult to express how much it means to be here right now, not just because of the Prize or the fact that Aunque los mapas will be a published book -and in such a magnificent way-  but also because of this shared joy over that ephemeral, fragile, and almost precarious illusion that everything is fine; and that is a feeling that in and of itself, is a gift.”

HIROSHIMA

El tiempo en Hiroshima avanza en bicicleta.
Cíclicamente en los parques florecen
rosas y rayos gamma.
Un niño pedalea a lo largo del Ôta
con barba encanecida.
Otro juega al balón, no teme aún al cielo.
Una anciana recuerda la seda del yukata
derramada en las manos de su madre.
Febrilmente una joven hace el cómputo
de camisas radiactivas, palomas
blancas ante su ingreso por primera
vez en un hospital.
Un peatón se detiene.
Está azul el semáforo.  Entrecierra
los ojos para ver, cree ver.  Avanza.
Cruza un pájaro la rueda del sol
sin saber de los tarde.
Sin saber del dolor o de los nunca.
La bomba atómica sigue cayendo.
Sólo vemos la luz,
no cómo nos quemamos.

Raquel Vázquez
Aunque los mapas
32nd LOEWE FOUNDATION International Young Poets Award

Poet Juan Antonio González Iglesias presented Gavieras, this year’s winning book: “The name `LOEWE Prize´ honours all those who have received it, but I think I can say that the name Aurora Luque also honours the Prize. It was a pleasant surprise for all of us to confirm that we were welcoming one of poetry’s giants into our already outstanding roster.” He went on to explain that Luque’s book takes “a rather odd traditional Spanish noun and makes it feminine and plural, offering a perspective that could become historical because it deals with many women, whose individual traces, when put together, draw the poet’s self-portrait. We very much value the feminine and the plural when awarding the Prize.” He also pointed out “the humanist spirit” that addresses “the condition of women, and therefore the human condition; our condition. Female figures from Greco-Roman times to today’s urban, postmodern, and pop culture. She begins with Safo, recalling simple elements of ancient cultures that we oftentimes forget.” González Iglesias also highlighted the winning book’s references to Joaquín Sabina and Polanski as a way to “celebrate urban culture and free time.” Aurora Luque expressed her gratitude for the Prize and showed her joy at being the newest member of its cast. She highlighted that the Jury “is made up of people I deeply admire. They are the main reason why I submitted my work and I hope LOEWE continues to support poetry for many centuries.” She then explained that while writing some of the poems of the winning book, she was also preparing her newest translation of Safo’s work, including a few newly found poems. And it was precisely while rediscovering the Greek poet, that one of Gaviera’s masterpieces was born.

HABLO A SAFO

Ven en mi ayuda, Safo,
¿me traes unas alas? Dos juegos:
Unas para mi espalda
-¿Se clavan? ¿Me harán daño?-
y unas leves de abeja
para cada palabra.
Trae miel de la tuya, de la amarga.
Esas cosas antiguas
-miel, sandalias, frescor,
las alfombras marinas de la luna
que esconden a la muerte deseante,
aletazos violentos que ponen a saltar,
como pez en la arena, al corazón,
una ambición de voluptuosidades.
Paladear recuerdos
o lamer una piel que ha regresado
de gozar la negrura de las olas,
miel recién fabricada,
hierbas para acostarse a mediodía,
rosas sin hibridar.
No nos son tan ajenos tus objetos.
Sólo hay que detenerse.
Pedírtelos.
Apartar tanto ruido.
Pues nos falta muy poco
para estar muertas.
Tráeme, Safo, alas,
alas, alas, frescor,
silencio, brazos,
alas.

Aurora Luque
Gavieras
32nd LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize

The award ceremony and presentation of the winning books published by Colección Visor de Poesía will be held next March, 2020 in Madrid.

Photo Captions: Aurora Egido and Raquel Vázquez in the LOEWE Gran Vía store. The Jury of the 32nd LOEWE FOUNDATION International Poetry Prize © LOEWE FOUNDATION, 2019.

LOEWE’S Windows

It is no coincidence that LOEWE’s Madrid Gran Vía store –it opened in 1936 and it is the brand’s oldest retail space that remains open today– is hosting an exhibit showcasing one of the fashion brand’s most distinctive features: its windows. The exhibit is a time travel experience that brings us closer to LOEWE’s history and shouldn’t be missed.  It spans 70 years of displays and 8 different themes.

Designed by visual artists and artisans, the fashion house’s windows have always caught the eye and attention of passers-by; in exhibit the exhibit, there are recreations of some of the most memorable windows, a few juxtaposed with current interpretations by Jonathan Anderson, LOEWE’s Creative Director. In addition to photos and explanatory texts, the sample includes iconic pieces, such as a huge metal grasshopper from the 1960’s designed by José Pérez de Rozas –the fashion house’s magnificent window designer for more than 30 years– which stands next to Anderson’s reinterpretation of the same grasshopper for the summer 2017 display.

Also on view are wax and watercolour sketches of the windows that Perez Rozas drew, a few impressive horse heads by sculptor Amadeo Gabino, and a sculpture of Princess Margarita, the main subject of Velázquez masterpiece Las Meninas, on loan from Enrique Loewe’s personal collection.

Once again, LOEWE’s history, creativity, and excellence in craftsmanship takes us on a journey through time allowing us to appreciate the social and aesthetic particularities of past generations.

A través del cristal: los escaparates de LOEWE. Galería LOEWE, Gran Vía 8, Madrid. From 12th September [Monday to Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sundays and Holidays: 11:00 a.m to 8 p.m.]

Photo Captions: A través del cristal: los escaparates de LOEWE.

CASA LOEWE, in London

CASA LOEWE has become one of the firm’s most attractive concepts: it implies luxury, intimacy, and culture in ways that perfectly match the exquisiteness and charm of the Spanish fashion house. The idea behind the CASA LOEWE concept, which emerged from the presentations of LOEWE’s collections at the Maison de l’UNESCO in Paris, is to simulate the dreamt-up home of an avid art collector.

In LOEWE’s recently-opened store in New Bond Street, in one of London’s most iconic neighbourhoods, this unique concept serves as a link between the contemporary spirit of the LOEWE Craft Prize and the annual Miami Chance Encounters art exhibition series. The beautifully designed store, which occupies the three floors of an historic building, showcases a cylindrical lift and floating spiral staircase that takes its cue from the Georgian period.

Since Jonathan Anderson took over as the fashion house’s Creative Director, the firm has made its presence in the UK capital known. The second floor of the New Bond Street CASA LOEWE will showcase a series of permanent and rotating art pieces, an impressive kaleidoscope of design, craftsmanship, and modernity. There are currently 14 works -including three oak vessels by Ernst Gampierl, the winner of the inaugural 2017 LOEWE Craft Prize, and a series of 15 photographs by Alair Gomes- all strategically placed throughout to surprise and charm CASA LOEWE’s visitors. Some of the artists whose works are currently on exhibit are none other than Anthea Hamilton, Edwin Lutyens, William Turnbull, Grayson Perry, Nicholas Byrne, Giorgio Griffa, Caragh Thuring, Daniel Sinsel, Axel Vervoodt, Ron Nagle, Alvaro Barrington, Magali Reus and Justin Fitzpatrick.

Photo Captions: Anthea Hamilton, Vulcano Table. Daniel Sinsel, Butzenbrille. Alvaro Barrington, Been around the world -2.