A decade ago, Miguel Poveda recorded the album “Sonetos y poemas para la libertad”, paying tribute to Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Alberti, and Gil de Biedma, among other great names of Spanish literature. The only author to whom he dedicated two poems was Federico García Lorca: “Soneto de la dulce queja” and “El poeta pide a su amor que le escriba”.

By chance -or perhaps not- Poveda discovered at an exhibition in Portugal that these poems (from Lorca’s “Sonetos del amor oscuro”) had been written in the same place: Valencia. In November 1935, the poet was staying at the former Hotel Victoria for the premiere of his play “Yerma” at the nearby Teatro Principal. Ninety years and three months after that joyful stay, Poveda has settled a personal debt with himself and with the poet. Through the “Casa Cultural Federico en Granada”, founded by the Barcelona-born artist, a commemorative plaque has now been installed at what is today the Hotel One Shot Reina Victoria, marking Lorca’s stay.

en_este_hotel.jpg

“This little pigeon from the Turia that I send you, with sweet eyes and white feathers…” Federico wrote to his hidden love of those days, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún. In truth, he did not write directly to him; rather, the verses were a profound outpouring of longing during his beloved’s absence from Valencia. Ninety years and three months later, Miguel Poveda and the Casa Cultural Federico en Granada, in collaboration with the hotel, held an emotional ceremony following the unveiling of the plaque on february 5. The artist read both poems and sang them, accompanied by Paco Costa on guitar, and performed one of them alongside his friend, fellow Valencian artist Sole Giménez.

Before nearly one hundred attendees in one of the hotel’s salons, the sunset of this windy February day became a moving evocation of Federico’s stay in the city and in the iconic hotel. Poveda spoke of coincidence -or perhaps destiny -and how life, along with his own experiences and concerns, has gradually led him -“Lorca-inspired”- toward Federico.

Together with close friends, Miguel Poveda fulfilled another dream this thursday in Valencia: restoring the memory of the poet from Granada

Together with close friends, Miguel Poveda fulfilled another dream this thursday in Valencia: restoring the memory of the poet from Granada. In this city of Mediterranean light, Federico committed to paper the depth of feelings where desire and pain coexist. In those verses, loving becomes a silent act of courage. With this plaque, this remembrance, and this reaffirmation of memory, Poveda and the Granada-based project he leads pay tribute to a universal author.

During the event -which also marked the revival of the hotel’s literary forums- the artist announced that he will continue remembering, recovering, and championing a complete, complex, profound, and universal Lorca one as universal as this land and the winds of these days that carry sighs and verses from the Mediterranean.

Through the Casa Cultural Federico en Granada, Miguel Poveda has already promoted the installation of a similar plaque at Barcelona’s Hotel Majestic, where the poet also stayed, as well as others in the city of Granada commemorating nearly forgotten places and moments in the life and work of the universal poet. On the first occasion, Poveda was joined by Joan Manuel Serrat; in Granada, by Juan Echanove.

This week, the Casa Cultural Federico en Granada presented its program for the first half of the year, linking Granada, cinema, and the Vega. The program includes Lolita in Valderrubio with her successful play “Poncia”; Ana Belén at the Cortijo de Daimuz; actors María Galiana and Víctor Clavijo at the Huerta de San Vicente; and numerous activities in the city of Granada.

Chronicle by Rafa Troyano/APDI Group