Cuerpos Errantes – Postcards From The Exiled

In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War many Spaniards who opposed Franco’s regime went into exile. While much of those emigres personal trauma remains hidden we interview Spanish anthropologist Jorge Moreno Andrés to shed some light on the issue and who explains why so many of these stories have remained untold.

Jorge Moreno Andrés is a professor at UNED who traces untold Francoist memory through a project called, Mapa de Memoria. His newest work Cuerpo Errante, produced alongside anthropologist Julián López García, was displayed recently in Casa America.

Speaking of Spain’s dictatorship is unusual for locals—and many in the modern day society don’t know much regarding the regime. Given the extent of the extermination which happened during the 40s, family members of those who were exiled, killed, or missing did not expose their stories for their own survival.

This culture of silence has outlived the dictatorship. To be able to create an exposition like Cuerpos Errantes it took careful examination of artifacts which led Moreno to family members of Spaniards who fled spain. Still, getting these accounts is was not simple given most are hesitant to talk about it.

The exhibition shows the life of those exiles. It featured many personal objects including postcards, prison blankets, suitcases, pictures—and an impressive archive of 1500 cards exchanged between a mother and her exiled son in Mexico.

According to Moreno, this collection is a cry for history to be recognized for what it was; and people ignore this moment in history because after Franco’s death, “there were no strong efforts in schools to teach what had actually occurred”.

“For example, I know more than my mother, and my grandfather had been in prison. I know because I’m interested for my profession, but people my age don’t know much, and are not interested in the topic, so I believe there is a deficit in public education in relation to what actually happened, and in private even more” – Moreno

He calls this ignorance a flaw of the new democracy— a flaw with outcomes such as families of victims receiving no reparations, and member of the fascist party facing no consequences.

Moreno and Andrés persistence in chasing this oral history is what allows us to piece together what fascism truly looks like. Researchers with his same mentality are the ones who have been making a difference. Real data is eventually being uncovered, and now we know 120,000 Spaniards went into exile.

The need for accurate numbers is important since it gradually shatters the fascists myth of perfection and social order. However, despite all the new information, the silence culture still poses an obstacle, since support for Franco currently exists in Spain, and is on the rise—with Gen-z leading the polls in support for authoritarianism.

Moreno stresses that democracy needs to safeguard itself to prevent the past from repeating. Exposing a history which is pressured to be forgotten through Cuerpo Errante and his previous works such as Las Pequenas Cosas, and El Cuerpo Ausente, are his effort to protect this democracy.

“One must understand that if there is not a public space where these families can tell these stories in a safe and tranquil way, then the families will not speak at all”. – Moreno

Cuerpos Errantes is currently under discussion of its next whereabouts; cities like Sevilla, Barcelona, and Bilbao are expected to be the next hosts.

For Moreno and his peers this is bigger than an anthropological account of the past, since this is still Spain’s present.

By mapping memory he found, “a way to restore the dignity of these families” which have been torn apart he concluded.

Alice Ellis