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“Up until now, philosophers and artists have tried to interpret situations; what needs to be done now is to transform them. Because we are products of the situations we live by, what’s important precisely is to create human situations. And every time the individuals define themselves by their situation, they aspire to create situations worth oft their desire. It is under this perspective that poetry must take place.”

—INTERNACIONALE SITUATIONISTE

Itsaso Arana, Violeta Gil and Celso Giménez have been working for over ten years on scenic arts. They try to generate “human situations” inside and outside of the stage.

They’ve created, among others, CINE, Materia Prima and Años 90. They investigate the limits between presentation and representation, showing their interest on contemporary theatre, and compromise with the intuition that intimacy and poetry essentially are political concepts.

During these years La tristura collaborates with contexts like Festival de Otoño in Madrid, Cena Contemporânea in Brasilia, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Las Naves in Valencia, the Łaźnia Nowa Theatre in Cracow, Spielart Festival in Munich, El Canto de la Cabra in Madrid or the FITBH in Belo Horizonte, among others.

During these years they also generate contexts such as Festival Salvaje, the Gran Convocatoria Mundial or the series La tristura 2004-2014. They’ve always tried to connect cultural agents and artists, trusting that from those connections, unexpected and inspiring movements will be born.

Their work is still tied with Madrid, the city where they live and develop their projects.

“Still so early in the world my love to talk about you and me.”

Odysséas Elýtis

“When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible. When he dies, he is hard and insensitive. When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant. But when it's dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death's companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being.”

Andrei Tarkovski

“What is the reason that as soon as one human being shows he needs another the latter draws back from him? Gravity.”

Simone Weil

“Joy is a recompense: the recompense that comes from a prolonged gravity, a brave, laborious, and hidden one that, certainly isn’t for just anybody.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Los tristes: Itsaso Arana, Violeta Gil and Celso Giménez
Photography: Mario Zamora
Rest of images: Juan Rayos, Álvaro Pérez, David Benito, Javier Calvo, Itsaso Arana, Violeta Gil and Celso Giménez.
Web design: Porelamordedios™