«Although the pressure of time is painful and sometimes unbearable, I am in favor of not shying away from itbecause my experience leads me to believe that only those who feel this dull pain – or acute – take advantage of life, in the most general sense of the term, and take advantage of having some idea of its wonders”, he wrote Josep Plto the preface of The hours. That book “about the land, about the country”, he said, “is nothing more than the annual diary of a farmer more or less lost – less than more – in cultural abstractions and often tragic, but generally inconsistent stories», but he created school.
Rooted in the literary tradition that starts from the Bucolic of Virgil, of contemplation and savoring the slowness of the passage of time and the serenity that inspires the constant repetition of the cycle of life, Plan’s look ended up leaving an imprint on subsequent generations. An exhibition a the Josep Pla Foundation Palafrugell traces this plain footprint in the work of Narcís Comadira and Julià Guillamónauthors who, despite the age difference, share an appreciation for the rhythms of nature.
The thread of the hourswhich can be visited until June 10, relates the texts and reflections of the three authors on the passage of time and the cycle of life. Apart from the texts of the three writers, it offers a sample of manuscript material from Plan corresponding to the impressive Editorial Selecta fund, recently incorporated by the foundation; as well as audiovisual material by Guillamon and drawings by Comadira, some unpublished.
If in 2003, the Josep Pla Foundation already organized Time flies, an exhibition based on the coincidences of the reflections of the Girona artist and poet and Pla on the cycle of life; twenty years later he returns, adding to the conversation the observations of the writer Julià Guillamon, author of The new hours. The book, published last year by Anagrama, drink from the planiana tradition to collect the subtle changes of a forest of Arbúcies during a year.
The exhibition is based on the texts that compose it the trilogy about the passage of time that Pla published with Selecta between 1953 and 1955: The hours (The passage of the year), The years (The passage of life) i The moments (The passing of the hours)three books were subsequently recast, in 1971, in volume XX of theComplete Work from Destino, titled The Hours.
“The sensuality and depth of Pla’s gaze left a mark on later generations: Comadira and Guillamon are two examples of exceptional quality of the suggestive and inspiring effect that Plan’s prose has had on them, which they themselves openly acknowledge. Also, the fact that they are separated by a generation, highlights that precisely we are facing a material that weaves tradition in our literature, and which presumably will continue to bear fruit”, says the Josep Pla Foundation.
“Belonging to three different generations, but sharing a common tradition and perspective on the calendar and the nature that surrounds us, Guillamon, Comadira and Pla dialogue with each other through drawings, photographs and, especially, words. From the serenity, each from their point of view, the three authors describe the passage of time. Focusing on what remains and endures, they invite us to become aware of the thread that unites us: both with those who have preceded us, and with those who will enjoy the hours to come”, they continue.
Installation at Flors i Violes
The exhibition will have a complementary proposal in the decoration of the Patio de la Fundació during the Flowers and Violets festival, which can be seen from April 29 to May 1. Inspired by the words of Plan, and with the title Light calligraphy, the Girona photographer Jordi Miquel Riera has designed an installation that gives all the prominence to light and nature.