Guernica Remakings: Action, Collaboration and Thread

Abstract

Reworkings of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica include versions in textile that have been produced or exhibited in recent years. Amongst these is Remaking of Picasso’s Guernica as a Protest Banner, an initiative in which the author herself was involved. Focusing on the ideas and concerns that underpinned the production of this banner, the author explains the significance of its deployment in public sewing events held in 2013 and 2014. Comparison is also drawn between the banner and two other reworkings of the Picasso painting in textile—a 1955 version that was included in an exhibition by Goshka Macuga called The Nature of the Beast that was held at the Whitechapel Gallery in London between 2009 and 2010, and the Keiskamma Guernica, a work made in South Africa that was completed in mid-2010.

It is suggested that these various reworkings point to the amenability of the Guernica to be adapted to convey a statement of opposition to those in power who prioritize their own agendas to the detriment of civilians. But whereas Picasso produced his work solitarily, its reworking or reinterpretation in textile has enabled it to be made by collectives and/or to serve as a forum for group activism.

Keywords:

• Picasso
• Guernica
• reproductions
• Keiskamma
• Khadi
• Kuffiyah
• protest banner
• collaboration

Notes

1. Altman, Cynthia. Interview with the author, September 2, 2015.

2. Altman, Cynthia. Interview with the author, September 2, 2015.

3. Interestingly a postcard of Guernica has entered into Picasso legend. During World War Two when the Germans occupied Paris (1940–44), Nazi officers would regularly visit Picasso in his studio. The story goes that a Gestapo officer picked up a postcard of Guernica and asked Picasso: “Did you do this?” Picasso responded: “No, you did!” This story demonstrates the power of Guernica in its reproduced form (Schama 2006).

4. The collective members are involved with the following: Amnesty International Brighton and Hove; Brighton Anti-Fascists; Brighton Voices in Exile; Gatwick Detainee Visitors Group; Migrant English Project; Palestine Solidarity; Campaign Brighton and Hove; University of Brighton: artists/activists; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

5. In her writing on drone attacks Maude Casey states: “No one knows how many people have been killed by them and no one knows the names of all the people killed” (Casey 2013). This is significant and, as Ben Emmerson, UN Special Reporter on Counter Terrorism has observed, this current state reflects a “hurdle to transparency,” (Bowcott 2014) which has created an accountability vacuum.

6. Galleries the banner has been exhibited in: Art, Refuge and Resistance, Grand Parade Café Gallery, Brighton, UK, October 23—November 14 2015; Exhibited to coincide with the major exhibition, Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK, November 8 2014—February 15 2015; Yoko Ono’s Meltdown Festival online, on the Guardian Witness site, June 2013.

7. Protests the banner has been present at: Protest against Trump’s Inauguration, London, UK, January 21 2017; White Poppy Wreath Laying, Brighton, UK, November 13 2016; Cable Street 80th Anniversary, London, UK, October 9 2016; Open Europe, Open the Borders, Dover, UK, April 2 2016; CND demonstration and European March for the Refugees Rights, London, UK, February 27 2016; Walked in protest at the EDO MBM Ltd weapons component factory in Moulscoomb Brighton, UK, and at four protests against the aerial bombardment of the civilian population of Gaza, summer 2014; Stop MFE, April 27 2014.

8. Political events the banner has been present at Blue plaque unveiling marking the site the Spanish children stayed following their evacuation after the bombing of Guernica 26 April 1937, Lancing Public Library, Lancing, UK, 20 May 2017. Brighton & Palestinian Artists together: Brighton to Palestine with Love, St Michael’s Church, Brighton, UK, June 4 2016; Refugee Tales at the Hawth Theatre Crawley, UK, June 21 2015; Brighton & Palestinian Artists together: Brighton to Palestine with Love, The Brighthelm Church and Community Centre, Brighton, UK, May 21 2015; Levelling out Racism: Stop MfE’s international picnic, The Level, Brighton, April 26 2015; Guernica, International Brigade Memorial Trust conference, The Manchester Conference Centre, Manchester, UK, March 7 2015; Pensioners Association Meeting, Patcham Lodge, Brighton, UK, January 13 2015; Cuban Solidarity Campaign, Brighthelm Centre, Brighton, UK, November 3 2014; Brighton Secular Humanists, The Sussex, Hove, September 3 2014; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom AGM, The Friends Meeting House, Brighton, April 12, 2014.

9. The following is a list of all the public sewing events held:

August 16, 2014, To Gypsyland, 198 Gallery, Brixton, London;

June 7, 2014, Local Name: Unknown …. Gypsies?, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton;

April 19, 2014, Art vs Fascism, Cowley Club, Brighton;

March 8, 2014, Working with Monica Ross, University of Brighton, Brighton;

November 29, 2013, The Subversive Stitch Revisited, V&A, London;

October 12, 2013, Darn that Picasso: conversations and craftivism, Working Class Movement Library, Manchester;

October 5, 2013, Resisting the New Racism, Brighthelm Centre, Brighton;

September 5, 2013, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India;

August 10, 2013, Phoenix Art Brighton;

July 21, 2013, Friends Meeting House, Brighton;

June 23, 2013, Jubilee Library, Brighton;

16 June 2013, Jubilee Library, Brighton.

10. There is another significant reference to Iraq in the exhibition in the form of a bronze statue of Powell giving his infamous speech. The pose is synonymous with the moment Powell held up a vial whilst talking about the threat a chemical attack poses which formed the basis of his argument to invade Iraq.

11. Nayia Yiakoumaki, Interview with the author, 18 June 2015.

12. Carol Hofmeyr, Interview with the author, July 29, 2015.

13. Carol Hofmeyr, Interview with the author, July 29, 2015.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicola Ashmore

Nicola Ashmore is a Senior Lecturer in History of Art and Design at the University of Brighton.

[email protected]