We don't all live certain experiences in the same way, it depends on each case, but there are some of those experiences that are very strong emotionally.
When I went upstairs and came across this emotional exhibition, I felt something very special because I was one of those migrant women. Not everyone who migrates does it for the same reasons and in the same circumstances.
In my case, it was to seek a better life, peace, tranquillity, security and a better economic life, but in many cases people migrate because of drastic issues such as war, persecution or terrible crises and often in those cases there is no time to prepare a migration. I had it, but many did not.
This exhibition shows that kind of people, especially focusing on women who have to migrate for various reasons. It includes above all women fleeing the war in Ukraine, but also many Latin American women.
The emotions that this step in life can bring are varied, because these people are forced to leave their country, it is not a voluntary decision.
In this exhibition, the artist Ángela Vargas represents many of these women, and you can see different traits of nationality in their faces. But the looks are very strong, a mixture of strength, courage, sadness, pain, life, love and fear. That's what I see in those looks. The artist herself has been a migrant and for this reason the exhibition is very emotional.
A migrant faces many challenges, adaptation, acceptance, and in these works there is a sample of testimonies of women who were in that situation and show the challenges they had to face. A lot of bravery, courage, search for hope in a different life. Real stories are depicted.
In the room there was a desk with papers on it telling what the exhibition is about. It was in Spanish, but by reading them I could tell you something about it. There was also a list of the paintings and it explained which were sold and which were not. The ones with a red dot next to them were sold.
One of the characteristics I see in this art show is the theme of colour. The works are made in acrylic but the colours that stand out are yellow, red, and then blue, violet and white.
And in one space in the room there was a very special work, a suitcase, but the interesting thing was the way it was made, very striking. Its colours were yellow and red.
According to the texts that were exhibited there, it represents unexpected migrant journeys, with no other alternative. Urgent journeys. The suitcase contains red hearts that represent the innermost part of the person, what the person wants the most and what they choose to take with them in these circumstances.
The big question is: What would you take in a suitcase? These are moments when you can't think too much, but there are always valuable things and they don't exactly represent money... what would you take?
It reminds me of when I left my country, and in just two suitcases I was carrying a life of 40 years. I had to choose what to take, it couldn't be everything. My best friend told me: You took two suitcases and your cat and you left. It was hard and I remember the courage I had to have not to look back.
My painting teacher said to me when she said goodbye: Don't look back, if you do you lose. And so I did.
This art exhibition has a lot of me in it, even though I didn't migrate because of a war, but I am Latin American.
The colours have a great importance in the works. Yellow is brightness, warmth, but at the same time it symbolises how little security can last in those journeys that are not voluntary. Red is the strength, courage, life, love, emotions that this kind of act awakens.
What would you carry in a suitcase? That is the question of the exhibition. Difficult to answer, isn't it? Just a few things, the most important things. Memories, precious things.
I can empathise with all these women, because I lived through something very similar and I know what they have felt, although as I say, I was not in a war, but my departure was voluntary.
The faces in the art exhibition are excellent and also remind me of certain works I used to do when I was learning painting with a technique called pointillism.
In addition to these works with faces of women from different countries, you can also see two important works. One is a red door with a system that seemed to be palpitating or beating and that resonated in the room with the sound of the heart.
It symbolises the traumas that these migrant women can go through, the emotions. The work is called ‘Portal to the invisible’. It represents the decision to leave the country into the unknown, where there can be dangers, uncertainties.
Not only were there sounds like heartbeats, but the performance was accompanied by flashing lights. It was a very well done work of art.
The work at the end of the route, in a corner, is a cube, predominantly blue and yellow in colour. It represents refuge, isolation, the unknown. According to the writing next to it, the blue symbolises the colour of the sea and the sky, the distances travelled in a migration.
The colour yellow is also present in an armchair, like this hope and the light that one hopes to find. Also in the place you can hear the heartbeats, the heartbeats of these women and the chair is like their emotions. Also those colours allude to the Ukrainian flag.
In this corner there is a lot of feeling and emotion and the play makes us reflect on these people and their experiences. To feel empathy and to understand the paths they walk
It has been a magnificent exhibition, where I was very sensitive and connected a lot with the artist and what she wanted to transmit in each moment.
Thank you all very much for reading and watching this far. I wish you a beautiful Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.