Eva Máñez: Paterna, Recollections of the Horror. Ministry of Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality - Generalitat Valenciana
The photographer, Eva Máñez, further develops the book with a selection of works presented at an exhibition of the same name that ran from the 17th of September to the 24th of October, 2021 in Menador Espai Cultural de Castelló, which was part of the Festival of Imaginary Photography.
Máñez's photographs and texts are arranged coherently, accompanied and introduced by contributions from historians Esther López Barceló, Vicent Gabarda and Ana Aguado, which evidence the horror of Paterna and the perseverance of the relatives who keep alive the memory of their loved ones, even 80 years after their murder, as well as the scientific work carried out during the exhumations in Paterna by the Arqueoantro Archaeological Association, which is captured in many of the photographs in the first section of the book.
The second section contains superb photographs from 60 women (sisters, daughters, granddaughters, nieces-granddaughters, and great-granddaughters of the murdered victims) who hold in their hands a portrait of a lost family member. accompanied by a short text written by them, in which they explain the impact to their families after the execution by firing squad. In almost all cases it is evident that there is a dual facet to the repression they suffered, political and economic, which Ana Aguado refers to in her writing and which many of them suffered.
The book closes with a beautiful text by Councilor Rosa Pérez Garijo in which she praises the important role of women in preserving the flame and the values of the disappeared: they are the Guardians of Memory.
Pedro Luis Alonso
Translation: Luis Barra