Realized in cooperation with the Cervantes Institute and the Belgrade Photo Month Festival, this exhibition re-examines human memory, individual and collective memory, in an original way, through works that bring an interesting overview of important historical events.

Photographer Fernando Bayona immersed himself in the rich funds of the photographic archive of the daily ABC for the project "Deceptiveness of Memory", whose curator is Javier Diaz-Guardiola.

Obsessed with the idea of ​​failure, his goal was to connect the analytical and scientific way in which an archive manages memories, with a more chaotic and subjective form of human memory. For the artist, the way we remember and present events in the present leads to their overlap and the creation of a distorted image.

"This is a series of works in which I try to make the audience think about the dangers of forgetting catastrophic events with the intention of preventing their recurrence," states Bayona.

The works made by this photographer are created from the superposition of hundreds of original photographs from archives that have a specific concept as their theme (violence, explosion, refugees, fire čije), whose boundaries also overlap with the end result.

Each of the works is illustrated with an original photograph from the ABC collection, which shows some of the important events from the last century that influenced the evolution of man (from the First and Second World Wars to the Spanish Civil War, September 11 or the arrival of man on the moon).

Wanting to confirm the idea that history repeats itself and that our memory is weak, Bayon completes each diptych with a portrait of individuals who still suffer the injustices that this project points to.

(Due to the current situation, there will be no official opening of the exhibition, and the audience will be able to see "The Variety of Memory" from Thursday, July 2.)

The gallery of the Institute Cervantes is open on weekdays from 8 am to 6:30 pm, and the maximum number of visitors who can see the exhibition at the same time is limited to eight. In accordance with the recommendations of the Government of Serbia regarding health and safety, visitors to the gallery are asked to keep a distance of two meters in relation to other visitors, with the obligatory wearing of masks.

If the epidemiological situation allows it, the Spanish photographer will hang out with the Belgrade audience before the closing of the exhibition, on September 10. Until then, the audience will be able to hear more about the authoring process and the exhibited works in a virtual meeting on July 9 at 5 pm, whose actors will be Fernando Bayona and David Pužado, the founder of the Belgrade Photo Month festival.

(More information about this meeting, as well as about the exhibition itself, can be found on the websites belgrado.cervantes.es and belgradephotomonth.org )

"I would like to organize a meeting with all interested parties so that I can personally explain to them the specific characteristics of this project, both at the historical and technical and aesthetic level, but also the ways in which the full conceptual potential of works can be understood using mobile phones and similar devices, "Bayona said: "This is the first time that I am exhibiting my works in Serbia, and it is a solo exhibition, which is why this is a particularly emotional moment for me. In addition, I feel a great responsibility for presenting the exhibition in the gallery of the Cervantes Institute, bearing in mind the importance of this space for the promotion of Spanish culture. "

This exhibition was realized in cooperation with the Cervantes Institute in Belgrade and the Belgrade Photo Month Festival with the great support of the Spanish Agency for the Promotion of Culture (Acción Cultural Española) through the PICE program for the international promotion of Spanish culture through the mobilization of artists.

Fernando Bajona (Linares, 1980)

He lives and works on the route between Madrid, Malaga and Granada. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Granada, and obtained a master's degree in photography from the NABA University in Milan, among other diplomas and studies in educational centers around the world. His works have been exhibited in numerous art centers in Miami, New York, Buenos Aires, Brussels, Berlin, Milan, Rome, Venice, Osaka, Tunisia, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Bilbao, but also at numerous art fairs such as ARCO in Madrid. , ART BASEL in Miami and MACO PHOTO in Mexico. He has won several prestigious awards and scholarships, and his works are part of many prestigious collections, such as CA2M, Unicaja & Boti Foundation in Spain, BSI Bank in Switzerland, Eberhard, FORMA (International Photography Center) and the Luciano Benetton Foundation in Italy.

He is the founder and director of Studio Bayon, which deals with the production of photography and communications. He did marketing campaigns for BSI Bank, as well as a tourism campaign for the Canary Islands government. In addition to being a very prolific creator, Fernando Bayona is also a professor at the University of Granada as well as at the Graduate School of Design in Granada. He is the director of the EmerGenT residency and production program in Torremolinos, Spain.

Photo via Institut Servantes

Additional comments: Admission free. The number of visitors is limited to a maximum of eight. In accordance with the recommendations of the Government of Serbia regarding health and safety, please maintain a distance of two meters in relation to other visitors, as well as to allow passage to the entrance to the building.

Date: from 03/07/2020 to 10/09/2020

Gallery opening hours: weekdays 8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Location: Institut Cervantes, Instituto Cervantes - Exhibition Hall; Cika Ljubina, 19; 11000 Belgrade ( Serbia )