'Eyes That I Ignited': Paraguayan and Spanish Photographers Revisit Silver Age Women in Asunción

The Cultural Center of Spain in Asunción is set to unveil 'Ojos que yo encendí' ('Eyes That I Ignited') this Friday, August 21. This collective exhibition brings together 21 photographers from Paraguay and Spain, aiming to forge a connection between contemporary artistic creation and the influential women of Spain's Silver Age.

The exhibition, which runs until October 24, will feature newly produced works by the participating artists. These pieces revisit the lives and contributions of women associated with Madrid's historic Residencia de Señoritas. This institution played a significant role in educating women during a vibrant period of Spanish cultural and intellectual activity prior to the Civil War.

Notable figures highlighted in the exhibition include journalist Josefina Carabias, politician Margarita Nelken, philosopher María Zambrano, chemist Dorotea Barnés, poet Concha Méndez, architect Matilde Ucelay, painter Maruja Mallo, lexicographer María Moliner, scenographer Victorina Durán, and aviator María Bernaldo de Quirós. The project, presented by the Cultural Center of Spain in Asunción and PHotoESPAÑA with collaboration from the Ortega-Marañón Foundation, is curated by Paraguayan photographer Leonor de Blas.

For its first Latin American tour, the exhibition incorporates the figure of Josefina Plá, a writer, artist, and educator deeply connected to Paraguay's cultural development. Her inclusion introduces a new layer, bridging Spanish and Paraguayan intellectual and artistic genealogies and allowing the exhibition to be read within a local context. Plá's trajectory is explored through the lens of contemporary photography, reinterpreting these historical figures from a present-day perspective and highlighting connections among diverse female experiences within the Ibero-American sphere.