Opening image – Still from Joaquim Jordà’s documentary film, Veinte años no es nada
Still from Joaquim Jordà’s documentary film, Veinte años no es nada

Discovering Joaquim Jordà is the new exhibition at Galeria Área Talleres, opening on October 17 and running until the end of February. The exhibition seeks to introduce Jordà as a teacher and filmmaker to those unfamiliar with his work, highlighting both his filmmaking and his teaching at Pompeu Fabra University, and privileging his disruptive instinct, surprise, countercurrent thinking, and sense of humor.

It is an initiative of the Centre d’Estudis Joaquim Jordà, directed by professors Fran Benavente and Glòria Salvadó, in collaboration with Elisava. The exhibition consists of two parts: a gallery show at Área Talleres on the Poblenou Campus and a film program at the En Construcción cinema, adjacent to the exhibition space.

Discovering Joaquim Jordà builds on a previous exhibition organized by the Santa Coloma de Farners City Council, Jordà’s birthplace, curated by Cristina Rubio, but includes many new elements. International students from Elisava, supervised by Xavi Bayona and Toni Montes, created a visual installation highlighting Jordà’s importance as a portraitist through the faces of many of his characters. Meanwhile, two audiovisual pieces explore Jordà’s legacy as a teacher: A Class with Joaquim Jordà, by Nuria Cancela and Samantha da Silva Diefenthaeler, examines his teaching through his voice and films, while a series of works by La Factoria gather memories and experiences of his students at Pompeu Fabra University.

Alongside the exhibition, the En Construcción cinema at Área Talleres will screen Jordà’s main films, programmed by Fran Benavente. Screenings are free and open to the public, presented by thinkers and filmmakers for whom Jordà’s legacy has been fundamental. The screening schedule can be consulted here.

Each session is preceded by earlier screenings in the afternoon, providing a cinematic and conceptual introduction. These sessions include other films by Jordà as well as works by filmmakers in dialogue with his, such as short films Jacinto Esteva shot in Africa before El encargo del cazador, or the film Estado de malestar (2019) by Maria Ruido, complementing Mones como la Becky.

Discovering Joaquim Jordà is the third exhibition at Galeria Área Talleres, following Joan Fontcuberta – Evidència, in collaboration with Fundació Vila Casas, and Univers Jordi Cano, a collaboration with ACVIC. Centre d’Arts Contemporànies. The exhibition and film program will be complemented throughout the academic year by the publication of a book by Arcàdia and a symposium on Jordà at Pompeu Fabra University.

Highlighting Joaquim Jordà

Joaquim Jordà (Santa Coloma de Farners, 1935 – Barcelona, 2006) began his cinematic career within the so-called Barcelona School, co-directing with Jacinto Esteva one of his key works, Dante no es únicamente severo (1967). Later, he went into exile in Italy, where he made several militant films, and upon returning to Spain directed films such as Numax presenta… (1979), about the self-management experience at the Numax factory in Barcelona; El encargo del cazador (1990), dedicated to his friend Jacinto Esteva, and Un cuerpo en el bosque (1995), a fiction film about rural Catalonia.

In the late 1990s, following a personal stroke and his appointment as a professor at Pompeu Fabra University, his work shifted towards the documentary essay, with key titles such as Mones como la Becky (co-directed with Núria Villazán, 1999), De nens (2003), Veinte años no es nada (2005), and Beyond the Mirror (2006). The first three were produced in the context of the Master in Creative Documentary at Pompeu Fabra University, allowing Jordà to share his cinematic practice and commitment with younger filmmakers, including Isaki Lacuesta, Laia Manresa, and Carla Subirana, among others.

EXHIBITION CREDITS

Curators: Glòria Salvadó, Albert Elduque, and Jordi Balló

Visual Installation: Alexa Nader, Assil Naji, Brentsen Solomon, Dalia Al-Akki, Eirini Sampani, Elena Caubet, Jad Karam, Jana Antoun, Joelle Nader, Juan Arizti, Kuan Yi Wu, Ines Fernandez, Marta Borreguero, Mokshuda Narula, Montserrat Sevilla, Selen Kurt, Stephanie Ibrahim, Tanvi Gupta, Tiago Rosado, Tracy Jabbour, and Yunling Jin

Executive Project: Jana Antoun, Joelle Nader, Montserrat Sevilla, Ines Fernandez, Eirini Sampani, and Jad Karam

Elisava Tutors: Xavi Bayona and Toni Montes

Typography: Bàrbara Astals

Poster: Sergi Jordà

Video and Audiovisual Essay: La Factoria de la UPF, Nuria Cancela, Samantha da Silva Diefenthaeler

Proposal: Centre d’Estudis Joaquim Jordà, Master in Ephemeral Architecture and Temporary Spaces (MEATS) at Elisava, and Faculty of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC)

Origin: “The Jordà Archive. The Filmmaker’s Documentary Collection in Santa Coloma de Farners”, curated by Cristina Rubió, Arxiu Comarcal de la Selva