José Val del Omar Exhibition at MoMI and Roundtable Discussion at NYU
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VAL DEL OMAR. SOURCE: GRANADA HOY.
Since March of this year, the Museum of the Moving Image has shown the work of prolific multimedia artist José Val del Omar in an exciting, ongoing exhibition titled Cinema of Sensations: The Never-Ending Screen of Val del Omar. As part of this exhibition, MoMI will present, this Saturday, September 9th, 2023, “a day of films and conversations that explore the work and legacy of [the] Spanish filmmaker, inventor, and artist,” titled Elements of Cinema.
Val del Omar was one of the most significant figures of Spanish avant-garde cinema, a contemporary and comrade of Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, María Zambrano, and other figures of the Silver Age of Spanish culture, interrupted by the Civil War, that formed the Generación del 36 (Generation of ’36). He was an accomplished creator — poet, musician, researcher, inventor and proponent of cinema. He defined by himself as a “cinemista,” or “cinema alchemist.”
While regarded as an essential figure of Spanish experimental cinema, Val del Omar can be seen as a key figure of international experimental cinema at large. This is not a minor point, as displacing Val del Omar from a narrow national narrative is a chance to relocate him within an international constellation of referents. He is part of a global history of images and sounds, connecting his works with some key episodes of the history of cinema. He is the bridge between the 1920s avant-garde and the new underground filmmaking of the 1960s.
As delineated on MoMI’s website:
The first program [in Elements of Cinema] presents rare 35mm screenings of the films that comprise Val del Omar’s ELEMENTARY TRIPTYCH OF SPAIN, with a presentation on his life and work by Piluca Baquero, director of the Val del Omar Archives. Following this, we present a compilation of experimental films—organized by (s8) Mostra Internacional de Cinema Periférico—that mirrors the structure of the triptych, by filmmakers who share Val del Omar’s formal and technical concerns. This will be accompanied by a presentation on Val del Omar’s place in the history of avant-garde international cinema by program curator Elena Duque.
Elements of Cinema is preceded by a roundtable discussion of Val del Omar’s body of work, titled Cinema In and Beyond Mid-Century Spain: The Sensational Touch of Filmmaker José Val del Omar, at New York University on Friday, September 8th, at 6:30pm. This discussion will be moderated by KJCC (King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center) Director Jordana Mendelson.
One of the panelists for this roundtable discussion, film scholar Carlos Saldaña, is currently working with GME on a forthcoming issue of Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, that will be comprised of writings about Warren Sonbert’s early films (1966-1972). The Guest Editor for this issue is GME President Jon Gartenberg, custodian of Sonbert’s legacy.
Cinema of Sensations: The Never-Ending Screen of Val Del Omar closes at MoMI on October 1st, 2023. Head to their website now for additional information, and be sure to check out this unmissable exhibition before it’s too late!
Gartenberg Media Enterprises is proud to distribute, to the North American university market, 14 stunning Val del Omar films in a 5-disc boxset titled VAL DEL OMAR: ELEMENTAL DE ESPAÑA. (This release is available as both a DVD boxset and a DVD/DSL bundle). The films featured in this collection are: WATER-MIRROR OF GRANADA (AGUAESPEJO GRANADINO) (1953-55), VIBRATION OF GRANADA (VIBRACIÓN DE GRANADA) (1935), SCENES (ESTAMPAS) (1932), HOME MOVIE (PELICULA FAMILIAR) (1935-38), FIRE IN CASTILE (FUEGO EN CASTILLA) (1958-60), CHRISTIAN FEASTS – SECULAR FEASTS (FIESTAS CRISTIANAS – FIESTAS PROFANES) (1934-35), GALICIAN CARESS (OF CLAY) (ACARIÑO GALAICO (DE BARRO)) (1961, 1981-82, 1985), ELEMENTARY TRIPTYCH OF SPAIN (TRIPTICO ELEMENTAL DE ESPAÑA) (1996), VAL DEL OMAR SOUTH – NORTH (VAL DEL OMAR SUR – NORTE) (1974), OJALA VAL DEL OMAR (1994), VERTEX VORTEX (VÉRTICE VÓRTICE) (2002), LABORATORY VAL DEL OMAR (LABORATORIO VAL DEL OMAR) (2009-10), VAL DEL OMAR OUT OF HIS MIND (VAL DEL OMAR FUERA DE SUS CASILLAS) (2010), and VAL DEL OMAR OUT OF HIS MIND (VAL DEL OMAR FUERA DE SUS CASILLAS) (2003-04).