April 2007

THE MOVIDA MADRILEÑA

Colour and psychedelia where the essence of a contra cultural youth movement that arouse in the first years of the eighties which became known as the Movida Madrileña (Madrid Movement). The alternative or underground culture created by a group of people differed from the former 68 generation as this latter orientated its revelry towards politics and this later movement chose a cultural renovation showing a special interest in the pop trend. The influence of Andy Warhol came from beyond the Atlantic ocean and its Factory movement was a great influence in the main characters of the Movida which mainly occurred in Madrid.

As with Warhol and his court of creative followers, here in Madrid, arouse a large group of people interested in bringing about changes in music, art, cinema, fashion and photography. People who met up in the same places, concerts, catwalks and art galleries and who although had different and peculiar tastes, styles and ideas, shared a common concept: a cultural renovation. This is what they attempted and certainly achieved since for an entire generation, the eighties and part of the nineties left a deep cultural mark. They met at the Rock-Ola, Sol, Bocaccio, Via Lactea and the Penta and their music references were: Kaka de Luxe, Radio Futura, Alaska y los Pegamoides, La Union, Nacha Pop, Los Secretos, Aviador Dro, Tino Casal, Golpes Bajos, Mecano, Gabinete Caligari, Loquillo y los Trogloditas, Las Vulpes, Los Nikis and Los Toreros Muertos: in plastic arts, their icons were: Costus, Ceesepe, El Hortelano, Nazario, Perez Villalta, Mariscal, Alcolea, Sicilia, Campano, Broto and Albacete; in photography: Garcia Alix, Ouka Lele, Socías and Pablo Perez-Minguez; in fashion Sybilla, Alvarado and Miguel Piña and in cinema, Pedro Almodovar who together with Mcnamara also participated in music events. At the time, an emblematic TV programme was Edad de Oro by Palmoma Chamorro broadcasted in TVE from 1983 to 1985. There were also a number of intellectuals who participated of the Madrid movement: Eduardo Haro Ibars, Luis Antonio de Villena, Ramón Mayrata or Javier Barquín; magazines such as La Luna de Madrid were also a mainstay of the Movida Madrileña.

If we’re to refer to the time this unrepeatable movement took place, we can say it happened from 1982 till 1988. It is therefore now the 25th Anniversary which we celebrate with the issue of this souvenir sheet which depicts a fragment of the edict of Enrique Tierno Galván, mayor of Madrid at the time.