La Retirada

Context

This project was thought from a double topicality: the 80th anniversary of the Retirada, which gave rise to a call for projects from the Occitania region, and the political and humanitarian crisis that surrounds the current migratory flows from the South towards Europe.

The archives and literature on life in the various imprisonment camps (Argelès, Saint-Cypiren, Le Barcarès, Gurs, etc.) where the exiles of La Retirada were detained from February 1939 onwards give an account of the countless individual tragedies they experienced, the deplorable living conditions and the generally authoritarian treatment of the situation by the French authorities of the time. In contrast, they also testify to the daily life in the camps, where fragments of social life were quickly rebuilt, notably with the creation of camp newspapers, the organization of language courses, cultural events, etc. Among these activities, music seems to have had a special place. Indeed, beyond the festive moments where hymns, songs of the civil war, and other traditional tunes could resound, a number of songs, in turn nostalgic, political, or simply testifying to the misery of living conditions, were directly written in these camps. These songs were inspired by popular tunes whose lyrics were transformed for the occasion, as well as songs composed by some of the imprisoned musicians: the guaracha Alé Alé Reculé by Julio Cuevas, La chanson d’Argelès, La chanson de Bourg-Madame, L’hymne au camp written by Catalans from the camp of Bram, or, among others, Wie hinterm Draht by the German composer Eberhard Schmidt, imprisoned at the camp of Saint-Cyprien.

The proposed project consisted of using recordings of these songs, taken from the archives or from compilations published later, as bells for the doorbells of a number of institutions scattered throughout the region. These bells were not intended to be added to the pre-existing bells of these institutions, but simply and discreetly replace them.

The regional institutions to which the project was to be proposed had as a common denominator that they were all institutions dealing with current immigration:

Thus, when a user rings the bell to indicate his or her entry into one of the institutions concerned, a particular song composed in the imprisonment camps of La Retirada would be played instead of the usual ringing of the bell. The bells were to be installed for the duration of the commemoration.

(Elements of the application sent in response to the call for projects of the Occitanie region. Application submitted by the BBB art center, in the context of a personal exhibition then in preparation in the institution).

This proposal was initially received favorably by the regional administration, but the passage in commission and the official answer were late in coming in spite of the reminders of the art center. As often, the delays of procedure and the absence of answers to the last reminders will mean the refusal of the project at the end.