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THE EXHIBITION:
SAN SEBASTIÁN, FASHION SCENE
22/06/2023 - 15/10/2023
Curator: Miren Arzalluz Loroño
Photos depicting early 20th-century fashion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kutxa Fundazioa’s Fototeka
The exhibition contains more than a hundred photographs from the Kutxa Fundazioa’s photographic holdings. All the photos come from the archive’s two most important holdings: Photo Carte and Foto Marín.
The museography invites us to wander through the rooms and immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the early 20th century. The photographs are therefore accompanied by a selection of audiovisual documents from the period on loan from the Basque Filmoteca, thereby breathing life into the still images on display.
Selecting the pieces was a complex task because of the volume of material available, helping us to understand that fashion was a crucial factor in the emergence of San Sebastián as an international hub for leisure and socialising in the early decades of the 20th century, when the Côte Basque, or Basque Coast, was being defined as a tourist region.
This development, which had begun in the latter part of the 19th century with royal family holidays, attracting courtiers, aristocrats, politicians, industrialists, intellectuals and artists, accelerated rapidly in the early decades of the following century. As the curator Miren Arzalluz indicates in her text: “Each season, San Sebastián therefore offered a condensed version of a modern city experience, including streets, avenues, parks, gardens and promenades; casinos, hotels, theatres and cafés; concerts, theatrical performances, masked balls and kermesses. All of these evolved into new settings in which seeing and being seen formed an essential part of the San Sebastián experience, both of social relations and of individual and collective fashion performances.”
The trades associated with fashion and commerce enjoyed an enormous boost, adapting to the demands of a clientele accustomed to the consumption of luxury products and constituting an essential economic activity for local prosperity.
The exhibition is divided into 6 thematic sections that allow us to understand the various changes that clothing underwent in each social context, given that fashion was extremely codified until the 1930s and demanded a different outfit for each moment and occasion of the day:
Beach Scenes: Style and Freedom
La Concha beach has historically been one of San Sebastián’s main tourist attractions, initially as a strictly therapeutic place, but soon also as a place for socialising.
The bathing suit for women barely changed at all during the 1910s, with only slight modifications. The real revolution arrived on the beach in San Sebastián in 1914 thanks to the arrival of a group of women artists wearing the famous maillot – a jumpsuit identical to the one used by men, made of woollen knitwear that was tight around the body, revealing its shape and exposing most of the arms and legs – which was to become the bathing suit par excellence beginning in the 1920s.
Urban Scenes: See and Be Seen
In summer, the public urban space (hotels, cafés, restaurants, shops, theatres and promenades) became a new setting for displaying elegance, an essential characteristic of summer holidays in San Sebastián and one of its most important calling cards.
San Sebastián’s holidaymakers planned an extensive wardrobe for the summer, which had to include outfits and accessories for all manner of occasions on the busy San Sebastián social calendar. In order to do this, they placed their orders in advance with their usual dressmakers and tailors in Madrid, Paris or London, following the latest trends for the summer season. During their stay in San Sebastián, they would lay their hands on new autumn creations in the fashion establishments of the city or in neighbouring Biarritz, where the main fashion firms of Paris had begun to set up branches in the early years of the 20th century
Horse Racing: Pageantry and Spectacle
Horse races and bullfights were attractions for local and visitors alike. These two events therefore congregated a particularly diverse, sophisticated and cosmopolitan public whose attendance turned the stands of Lasarte racecourse and El Chofre bullring into an authentic fashion show.
As Ricardo Martín’s photographs attest, models from various haute couture firms strolled on the lawns and in the grandstands of Lasarte racecourse with the same ease with which they paraded in the Champs-Élysées
Elite Sports: Comfort and Sports Fashion
One of San Sebastián’s most important calling cards was the organised practice of sports and outdoor activities, promoted both by the local authorities and by private initiative. Competition spaces became new places not only for leisure and socialising, but also for the exhibition of style and elegance.
There was similarly a development of sports clothing that ensured comfort and freedom of movement, thereby redefining the relationship between the body and clothing. And this led to the birth of sportswear fashion outside the sporting sphere, soon becoming the prevailing trend in Parisian and international fashion.
Social Life: Luxury and Sophistication
The cultural calendar had been extremely intense since the beginning of the century, but a ban on gambling in 1925 and the growing democratisation of tourism led to an even greater intensification that allowed the city to continue competing with Biarritz and the Basque beaches on the other side of the border.
And given that a different outfit was required for every occasion, demand multiplied, and with it the sewing workshops and businesses selling all manner of accessories (hats, gloves, bijouterie and jewellery...).
Dressmakers and Tailors: Craftsmanship and Excellence
As the fashion trade flourished in San Sebastián, many women, dressmakers, tailors, milliners, cutters, fitters, embroiderers, saleswomen and models, found a way to become independent, to be enterprising and to create in this booming industry.
Despite the existence of institutions such as the San Sebastián School of Arts and Crafts, many young women learned the trade in the family home, later perfecting their knowledge through their experience in ateliers and establishments in San Sebastián, Biarritz or Bilbao, or even in European capitals such as Paris, London or Madrid. Some of them occasionally managed to start their own business.
Collaboratorr:
ACTIVITIES:
Guided tours Every Saturday 5.30 pm Basque / 6.30 pm Spanish Free | Prior booking in the Gallery, T 943 251939 or
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La Côte Basque, Laboratory for New Ideas and Trends Jueves 21 de septiembre | 18:30 Talk presented by the curator Miren Arzalluz Loroño. Free | Spanish COMPLETED!
Gipuzkoa, Textile Industry: heritage & know-how In collaboration with Kutxa Kultur Moda. Four women designers, four projects that have forged bonds and built bridges with the industry, heritage and know-how of the territory to bring it closer to the present.
Tytti Thusberg for Boinas Elósegui - Disegner txapelas. Thrusday 6 July | 6.30 pm Presentation of project’s process and phases. Free | Spanish Gratis | Castellano
Kotoi: Inspired by the past, Desingning for the Future Thrusday 3 August | 6.30 pm Performance of Personas azules [Blue People], documentary screening and brand presentation.. Free | Spanish COMPLETED!
Amarenak: Wearable Stories Presentation of Bergara collection and fashion film screening. Thrusday 7 September | 6.30 pm Free | Spanish COMPLETED!
Fanny Alonso - Mujeres del algodón. [Women of cotton] Historia de vida [Life Stories] Thrusday 5 October | 6.30 pm Presentation of project, exhibition and guided tour with oral testimony of cotton-making women Free | Spanish
Window Displays 1915-1935 A collaboration between early 20th-century shops associated with fashion and perfumery, Kubo Kutxa and San Telmo Museoa as part of the exhibitions San Sebastián, Fashion Scene and Perfect Weather. Udako kartelak. Summer Posters.
A journey through history in the form of its shop windows. Come and discover their past and present.
Participants: Casa Ponsol, 1838 (Narrika, 4) Guante Varadé, 1902 (Boulevard, 16) Irulea, 1932 (Mayor, 7) Perfumería Benegas, 1908 (Garibay, 12) Perfumería Matilla, 1928 (Mayor, 7) PYC, 1930 (Mayor, 15) Sombrerería J. M. Leclercq, 1932 (Narrika, 18)
CATALOGUE:
SAN SEBASTIÁN, ESCENA DE MODA Basque, Spanish and English
Texts: Miren Arzalluz Loroño
ISBN:978-84-7173-616-1
Price: € 37 (TAX included)
The catalogue that accompanies this exhibition intends to be a commemorative item of the Fototeka’s 50th anniversary, so special care has been taken throughout the editing process.
The texts by Miren Arzalluz, rigorous yet accessible to the general public, help us to unravel the importance of the photographs as a testimony to the dress codes and fashions at an exciting historical moment in the evolution of fashion on the Basque Coast.
GUIDE OF EXHIBITION:
Descard here the guide of exhibition.
All the photographs show in this exhibition belong to the Photo Carte and Foto Marín holdins of Fototeka Kutxa.
@kubokutxa
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Mi propio paisaje es una exposición que se plantea como una inmersión en el mundo creado por la artista, que entiende la pintura como una postura vital, y que nos presenta su paisaje, ordenado, liviano, puro y franco, basado en una profunda investigación sobre la geometría, el espacio y la luz.
La muestra ha sido concebida específicamente por Soledad Sevilla para la sala Kubo Kutxa, inspirándose en las sugerencias del espacio en la que va a ser instalada. Toma su título del verso de Pessoa «Yo soy mi propio paisaje», y se detiene en cuatro escenarios esenciales de su trayectoria:
1. Nada temas
Soledad Sevilla ha creado para esta exposición la obra instalativa titulada Nada temas, 2023, partiendo del verso tomado del poema de Santa Teresa de Ávila Nada te turbe. Se trata de una creación fugaz, frágil; en esta instalación lleva a la arquitectura su preocupación en torno a la línea y el plano. Delinea la profundidad y el volumen de la estructura que dibuja en el espacio con trazos de luz, que en realidad son simples hilos de algodón instalados de forma rítmica y geométrica atravesando el vacío, tejiendo el aire, creando un ambiente de espiritualidad sublime. Como el título sugiere, el arte tiene la capacidad de revelar verdades místicas.
2. PERMUTACIONES Y VARIACIONES DE UNA TRAMA
La abstracción geométrica más pura, dibujos seriales de los inicios de su carrera, en los que a través del uso repetitivo de la línea crea espacios depurados, ficticios, generando una experiencia emocional de serenidad cuasi mística. Realizados en los años 70 y 80 sobre rollos de papel continuo, creando estas estructuras geométricas infinitas. Algunos de estos trabajos, inéditos en muchos casos, realizados durante su estancia en Boston, se pueden ver en esta exposición.
3. ARQUITECTURAS AGRÍCOLAS
La observación la naturaleza es la fuente de inspiración para las series situadas en la gran sala central.
Arquitecturas agrícolas se inspira en el paisaje de la Vega de Granada y, en concreto, en los secaderos de tabaco que se diseminan en ella. Se trata de construcciones tradicionales rurales, bastante rudimentarias, en las que habitualmente se colgaban las plantas y hojas de tabaco para protegerlas del sol y la lluvia, al tiempo que se facilitaba la ventilación, en su proceso de secado. La artista evoca y reproduce de forma poética esas construcciones en metal, neopreno o papel, materiales maleables, creando juegos de luces, como los que se producen al entrar en estas humildes construcciones.
Retablos. Soledad Sevilla rescata también los secaderos de tabaco, construcciones que lentamente van desapareciendo, de modo que perviven en nuestra memoria. Se inspira en esa arquitectura vernácula, en las maderas destartaladas que permanecen de estas arquitecturas de origen agroindustrial, para sus Retablos, en los que las pinturas recrean el ritmo y las texturas de las tablas, como vallas, que nos invitan a pasearlas deteniéndonos en los detalles. La intervención en sala, formada por Retablo A, Retablo B y Sonata sin futuro, se configura como un retablo moderno, como una instalación, una capilla en la que los cuadros conforman un espacio majestuoso y espiritual, que nos rodea, acoge y sobrecoge. Consigue provocar una experiencia trascendente.
Arpilleras. Ahora se detiene en un elemento más humilde, frágil y efímero como son las arpilleras que recubren estas construcciones aislando y protegiendo las plantas de las inclemencias externas.
Este material está presente en obras como Nuevas lejanías negro, Las lunas oscuras de cristal y Las lunas oscuras de plata y en la serie Silencio. Le interesa de estos tejidos su liviandad, la luz que filtran, el paisaje difuso que ofrecen a su través.
4. MUROS
De la abstracción geométrica más pura, transitamos en sus Muros a la abstracción más lírica, obras en las que confluye lo geométrico y lo orgánico. Son obras en las que el gesto se evidencia y aparece el ritmo de la pincelada, cómo se suceden y acumulan las hojas de las plantas trepadoras que envuelven los muros de la carrera del Darro de Granada. Estas — Sal y Sica— son obras inspiradas en el mundo vegetal, abriendo la conexión con una naturaleza a veces expresa, pero muchas veces enmarcada en elementos que enfatizan la fuerza de la poesía que exhala la creación de Soledad Sevilla: enormes cuadros formados por hojas de diferentes tonalidades que podrían ser el fragmento de una enredadera infinita, hojas de diferentes tonalidades, con variaciones sutiles, que evocan el paso del tiempo, la fugacidad de la materia, la frágil permanencia de las cosas y de la propia vida. A fin de cuentas, a la artista le fascina lo pasajero