Author Archive for James D. Fernández

Ben Shahn Returns to Spain, or the Intangible and Untimely Heritage of Anti-Fascism

February 24, 2024
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Ben Shahn Returns to Spain, or the Intangible and Untimely Heritage of Anti-Fascism

We talk about the “return” of Picasso’s Guernica to Spain, even though that massive painting had never been here before its “repatriation” in 1981. The magnificent show “Ben Shahn: On Non-Conformity” curated by Laura Katzman and on display until February 26 at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, elicits a similar sense:...
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by Guernica [part 2]

November 18, 2023
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by <em>Guernica</em> [part 2]

When a visit to Picasso’s Guernica in Madrid was canceled because of Covid, James Fernández instead delivered this lecture. This is the last of two installments.
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by Guernica [part 1]

August 30, 2023
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When Did World War II Start? And When Will It End? Reflections inspired by <em>Guernica</em> [part 1]

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, James D. Fernández had agreed to visit Picasso’s Guernica in Madrid with a group of students from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. The trip was canceled, and instead, he delivered a zoom lecture to the students about Guernica without Guernica, which we...
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Dreaming Wide Awake in the Archives

August 5, 2019
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Dreaming Wide Awake in the Archives

The ALBA collection at NYU’s Tamiment Library is an extraordinary trove of documents, images, and artifacts chronicling the lives of the almost 3,000 American men and women who joined the Spanish Civil War. It collection represents about ten percent of these volunteers—a respectable sampling. But is it representative?
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A New Home for ALBA in New York, and a Homecoming—of Sorts

February 27, 2018
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A New Home for ALBA in New York, and a Homecoming—of Sorts

ALBA has moved offices from one historical location to another one. Our new home is steeped in history and ripe with promise.
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I’ll Be There: Film Festival Shows Legacy of the Lincolns

November 19, 2017
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<i>I’ll Be There: </i>Film Festival Shows Legacy of the Lincolns

ALBA’s Human Rights Film Festival shines a light on human rights abuses—and on those who try to stop them—wherever they may happen. The geography covered by this year’s Impugning Impunity is vast.
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American Mother Cries over Son Held Prisoner by Franco

July 27, 2016
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American Mother Cries over Son Held Prisoner by Franco

La Prensa was a Spanish language daily that thoroughly covered the Spanish Civil War, including occasional stories, like the heartbreaking one translated here, about the Lincolns. Spanish-language journalism in the US is a largely untapped source for the study of American involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Tuesday, October 19, 1937 ********************** He was...
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Americans in Spain’s Civil War: A Convoluted Legacy

July 25, 2016
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Americans in Spain’s Civil War: A Convoluted Legacy

James D. Fernandez, New York University Eighty years ago this week, in the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla, a group of right-wing generals staged a military coup, aimed at overthrowing Spain’s democratically elected government. The July 1936 uprising unleashed what would come to be known – somewhat inaccurately – as the Spanish Civil...
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Legible Legacies: A World without the Lincolns

June 9, 2016
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Legible Legacies: A World without the Lincolns

The legacy of the Spanish Civil War played a crucial role in the lives of Lydia Cacho and Jeremy Scahill, the winners of the ALBA/Puffin Award. But how do we ensure its transmission to younger generations, whose life world is so different that they often have trouble even reading the Lincolns’ hand-written letters? ALBA’s...
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Impugning Impunity: ALBA’s Human Rights Film Festival Denounces Violence and Inequality

December 8, 2015
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<i>Impugning Impunity: </i>ALBA’s Human Rights Film Festival Denounces Violence and Inequality

ALBA’s fifth annual Human Rights Film Festival featured 21 documentary films from 12 countries (four world premieres, 12 New York premieres). The Randall Award went to Among the Believers, about radical Islam and a charismatic cleric in Pakistan.
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