The LM Arte Colección museum has initiated a project to safeguard the documentary memory of Canarian art. The campaign aims to recover ephemeral materials such as flyers, invitations, catalogs, and artist resumes, which are often kept in private homes and studios without their owners realizing their historical value.
Eliseo Izquierdo, the center's director, explains that a significant portion of this memory is scattered and at risk of disappearing. "Many people have told me, 'Oh, what a shame, because a few years ago I threw away about two boxes full of catalogs, because I just had them there,'" laments Izquierdo, emphasizing the urgency of the situation.
“"Most of the time, you ended up folding it at the end of the exhibition and throwing it away."
The initiative, partly inspired by the director's own family documentary collection, seeks to gather publications, diptychs, triptychs, and invitations linked to exhibitions, particularly from the 1970s and 1980s. These materials, though humble, offer crucial information about artworks, artists, dates, critical texts, and the ways art was communicated in past decades.
The goal of LM Arte Colección is to gather, preserve, and value this heritage, which already comprises "several thousand pieces." The appeal is directed at artists, family members, collectors, critics, journalists, and any citizen who possesses documents related to the cultural activity of the Archipelago, inviting them to get in touch before discarding any material.
These documents hold not only documentary value but also aesthetic and artisanal significance, reflecting the graphic creativity of eras with limited resources. They are highly useful for researchers, curators, and cultural centers, potentially serving as a basis for new exhibitions and curatorial projects. The center has already incorporated such material into its own shows, as seen with publications from the group La Conca.
The primary concern is that the passage of time continues to erase an essential part of the recent cultural history of the Canary Islands. Those wishing to contribute can contact the museum via email at info@lmartecoleccion.es.
