WHO OWNS THE PAST?

WHO OWNS THE PAST? The Photobook

This photobook is the result of 12 years of exciting work, researching, exploring and photographing a wide selection of architectures with an industrial origin in 75 European cities that in recent times have been rescued from oblivion and transformed into cultural projects.

A journey in time and space that many times made me feel like an industrial archaeologist whose mission was to preserve these building’s memory and identify their new functions.

With an agile, creative design, “Who Owns the Past?” offers a whole universe of architectural transformations which have deeply modified vast urban areas and entire neighborhoods. You will discover the incredible stories told by these buildings, and how they stand as witnesses of a by-gone era.

Here are some examples: a power plant in London, a water treatment plant in Berlin, the shipyards in Amsterdam, some harbor warehouses in Hamburg, a pharmaceutical lab in Paris, a tram factory in Glasgow, a slaughterhouse in Rome, an automotive factory in Turin, an elevators manufacturing plant in Madrid, a tobacco factory in Marseille, a textile factory in Barcelona, a gas holder in Vienna.

This photobook presents you with a singular contract of industrial mapping and free reading, with constant geographical movements and unexpected changes of orientation across a meaningful selection of sites and buildings, thus composing this intense journey through the industrial memory recuperated through culture.

A photographic kaleidoscope composed with images of 140 repurposed industrial buildings from 17 Western European countries.

ABOUT ME

My name is Jorge Conde (Barcelona, 1968). I am a visual artist, photographer and researcher. I am best known for my sensory, multimedia installations and hybrid images expanding the limits of photography and creating unexpected interactions with architecture.

My projects deal with the excesses of contemporary hyper-consumption society and its algorithmic production model, focusing on its contradictions and the relations of power that help support it. Over the years my artistic practice has placed itself in positions of greater ethical, social and ecological commitment, thus showing a deep concern for the climate emergency, the evolution of contemporary cities and the tensions between history and memory.

PHOTOBOOK SPECIFICATIONS

• 232 pages + full dust jacket

• Size: Vertical Format. 30 x 24 cm. (closed) / 30 x 48 cm. (open)

• Printing Technique: Offset, 4+4 inks (CMYK)

• Interior (block pages): Eco-friendly Pergraphica - - Classic Smooth 120gr. Paper

• Cover (diptychs): Eco-friendly Pergraphica Classic Smooth 300gr. Paper

• Full Dust Jacket: Eco-friendly Pergraphica Classic - Smooth 150gr. Paper

• Binding: seen spine with dark grey thread

• Texts: Begoña Torres (Lázaro Galdiano Museum director, Madrid), David Armengol (La Capella Barcelona artistic director) and Jorge Conde

• Languages: English + Spanish + Catalan

• Photographs, Concept and Edition: Jorge Conde

• Graphic Design: Opisso Studio

• Printing: Nova Era Publications

Edition of 500 Copies (First 50 will be reserved for the unique, limited edition).

This VERKAMI crowdfunding campaign offers you the possibility of purchasing the book in advance at a reduced price along with supporting the artistic project.

Once the VERKAMI crowdfunding campaign is over, the book retail price will be 50€, and 90€ for the unique, limited edition. This exclusive version of the book will consist of only 50 numbered copies, signed, all of them including a different, original page designed by the artist.

WHAT WILL YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS BE USED FOR?

This photobook is currently being developed with the aid of 4 major cultural institutions that contribute with most of the financial support needed: (1) Diputació de Tarragona, (2) MÈDOL Centre d’Arts Contemporànies de Tarragona, (3) Generalitat de Catalunya + Museu Nacional de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya (MNACTEC), and (4) the IAACC Pablo Serrano Museum in Zaragoza (Spain).

Therefore, this crowdfunding campaign's goal is to raise the rest and give the project the final push needed in order to make the “Who Owns the Past?” book possible.

The money raised in this campaign will primarily be used to fulfill the first edition printer and graphic designer's fees. It will also be used to pay for this VERKAMI crowdfunding campaign as well as the production and shipping of your rewards.

In case we manage to exceed the requested amount, further costs regarding the distribution of the book, authoship rights, etc. will also be covered.

EXPECTED SCHEDULE: WHEN WILL I GET MY REWARD?

The book is currently reaching the final layout and printing phase. The goal is to have it all printed and bound by the end of July 2024.

Rewards will be delivered in the various presentations that will be scheduled and advertised through social media, or by mail in case a shipping option is preferred.

If it's more convenient for you, I can also deliver the book personally in Barcelona, Madrid and Tarragona.

All rewards shall be shipped in October and November, 2024.

+INFO & MEDIA APPEARANCES

-www.jorgeconde.com (ESP/ENG)

-Instagram: @jorgeconde_artist

-Spanish Ministry of Culture (Tabacalera Art Center Show in Madrid)

-Tabacalera Art Center Show in Madrid)

-ARAGÓN TV – “Atónitos Huéspedes”, an interview with Jorge Conde)

-METALOCUS Magazine (ESP & ENG)

-ROOM Magazine. (Tabacalera Art Center Show in Madrid)

-RNE 3. Interview with Jorge Conde on the occasion of his solo show at Tabacalera Art Center in Madrid, 1 Feb. 2021. Podcast:

-InOut viajes. Interview with Jorge Conde

-ARAGÓN TV – “Aragón Noticias” (Solo exhibition at the IAACC Pablo Serrano Museum in Zaragoza)

-CONNECTICAT TV (Interview. Solo show at the MNACTEC Museum in Terrassa-Barcelona. Català + English subtitles)

-CLAVOARDIENDO-MAGAZINE (interview with Jorge Conde)

-ALBUM 2024. Photography and Contemporary Art Festival

-JARDÍN REMOTO NEWS: Solo show at MNACTEC

-Museu Nacional de la Ciència i la Tècnica de Catalunya's Official Website. Jorge Conde's exhibition at the MNACTEC (CAT-ESP-ENG)

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