Travellers to Spain, a Cultural Tour From 19th-Century Views to Social Media Today
Belén Cao
The first session of the series will explore the significant changes in the representation of Spain from the 19th century to the present day in the fields of visual arts, travel writing and journalism. Three distinguished scholars and writers will participate in our first session, which seeks to answer questions on the evolution of the cultural and tourist image of Spain depicted in classical engravings and paintings and contemporary selfies and TikToks. The lectures will analyse representations by master artists and traditional stereotypes in old travel guides as well as the current reality of a diverse postmodern country presented by new forms of communication and social media. All these contributions by British travellers over more than two centuries of thrilling voyages to the Iberian Peninsula will help us discover how both the projected and perceived images of Spain have evolved.
Sir Barry Ife, an eminent professor specialising in the cultural history of Spain and Spanish America from the 15th to the 18th centuries, will open the inauguration of the series. His lecture will explore pictorial representations by romantic travellers and the specific case of Harriet Ford, wife of the famous travel writer Richard Ford, on their trip to Granada. The first session will continue with Claudia Hopkins, Professor of Art History at Edinburgh College of Art and former Director of the Zurbarán Centre for Spanish and Latin American Art, who will present 20th-century Spain as seen through the modernist eyes of David Bomberg. Finally, Tom Chesshyre, journalist and travel writer contributor to The Times, The Guardian, and National Geographic Traveller, will discuss how Spain is portrayed in the 21st century through the eyes of travellers discovering a new country that is marked by an influx of tourism yet still holds on to its community spirit and cultural traditions.
