Folklore II (2007) draws similarities between King Phillip II of Spain (1527-1598) and Julio Iglesias and global empires then and now. Once again mixing historical facts about Phillip II’s reign and tabloid gossip about Iglesias and his private life, Esquivias takes us on an educational journey from the dark isolated Spain of Franco’s reign to the sun-drenched Spain of present day mass tourism.
PATRICIA ESQUIVIAS’ videos Folklore I and Folklore II are the first of an ongoing series of informative lectures about Spain, its history and image.
Folklore deals with events of historic relevance and parallel stories recorded in the collective “folk” memory. Employing modest aesthetics and unrehearsed speech to narrate these stories, Esquivias weaves together unrelated facts presenting history-making as a democratic, continuous, permeable and participatory activity. In fact the lecture is seen through the eyes and hands of the lecturer. We follow her manually selecting and reselecting a scrapbook of visual images, consulting hand written notes and watching the clock.