SHIPPING AVAILABLE FROM 1 SEPTEMBER
Por un lugar en el sol brings together an artistic research project centred on two holiday complexes built to organise the leisure time of the working class: the Colónia de Férias Um Lugar ao Sol in Caparica, inaugurated in 1938 by the Fundação Nacional para a Alegria no Trabalho, and the Ciudad Residencial Tiempo Libre in Marbella, opened in 1962 by the Obra Sindical de Educación y Descanso.
Located in areas where tourism is the main source of income, these two architectural projects provide a means of tracing the industrialisation of holidays and the political, social and economic transformations undergone by these models of collective leisure. Although they were conceived under the dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazar and Francisco Franco, both holiday complexes continued to operate under the democratic governments that followed.
The publication unfolds through a collection of postcards, posters, press cuttings, annotations, film stills and photographs gathered during the research. These materials enter into dialogue with images recorded at the two locations, interweaving different temporalities to reconstruct the history of spaces conceived as promises of collective well-being.
Por un lugar en el sol reflects on the relationships between architecture, tourism, work and leisure, as well as on the gradual commodification of places that once made it possible to imagine holidays within everyone’s reach.
Irene de Andrés
Irene de Andrés is an artist whose practice investigates the evolution of leisure, travel and tourism throughout history, paying particular attention to the architectures and infrastructures associated with recreation, such as spas, cruise ships and holiday complexes. Through film, sculpture and graphic work, she connects historical episodes in order to reflect on models of tourist consumption and our relationship with the landscape.
She holds a degree in Fine Arts and a master’s degree in Artistic Research and Production from the Complutense University of Madrid. She has undertaken residencies at FLORA Ars+Natura, Beta Local, Matadero Madrid and the Spanish Academy in Rome. Her awards and distinctions include Generaciones, the Ciutat de Palma Prize and the DKV–Es Baluard grants. Her work has been presented at institutions including the Museo Patio Herreriano, Fundació Joan Miró, Es Baluard, La Casa Encendida, MuHKA and ifa Galerie.
