On 17 July, we received a very special visitor at the Monastery: one of the leading historians in our country, Ian Gibson, accompanied by his wife, Carole Elliott.
Sarah Barbará, Head of Cultural Programming at the Monastery, welcomed the historian and his wife, Carol, and together with historians Suso Vila and Javier Goberna, they toured the monastery before visiting the exhibition “The Prisoners of the Monastery: Memories of the Spanish Civil War”. The visit was described by the historian himself as “moving”, and one he had long wished to make.
The graffiti of the Monastery of Oia constitute a first-rate source for the study of Francoist concentration camps, and their restoration process is, in turn, a benchmark initiative in Spain in terms of the recovery of Historical Memory from the private sector. In 2019, the ownership of the Monastery of Oia decided, as part of the interventions carried out on the monument since its acquisition, to recover and restore writings that had remained engraved on the walls of the upper floor of the monastery for 80 years. All of this work was explained in detail to Ian Gibson, who praised the project.
The exhibition, designed by the architecture studio Rodríguez + Pintos, was awarded the Gran de Area Prize for Contribution to Architecture in 2021.
Sarah Barbará: “It has been a real pleasure to accompany Ian and to share with him the history of the Monastery, the restoration process, and the personal stories contained in each of these graffiti inscriptions.”
More information here:
Ian Gibson: “I am deeply moved after visiting the Monastery of Oia”
https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/vigo/2023/07/19/ian-gibson-sobrecogido-tras-visitar-monasterio-oiaencuentran-paradanta-insecto-infectado-flavescencia-dorada/0003_202307V19C4991.htm?utm_source=email&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share&utm_content=0003_202307V19C4991
