The Guitars of Picasso is a musical project that is inspired by legendary French poet Jean Cocteau's dream to "hear the sounds of Picasso's Guitars". Throughout his career the great Spanish painter Picasso featured numerous Guitars in deeply expressive works. The Guitar Quartet presenting this project is a collaborative effort between artists of two countries: France and Australia. The visitors are Rafael Andia, professor of Guitar at the prestigious Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, and Claire Sananikone, a brilliant student from the Paris Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique. They are joined by duo Eric Cathan and Giuseppe Zangari, performers and staff at the University of Newcastle.
Under Rafael Andia's artistic direction, the group will perform rarely-heard Spanish Music in haunting and evocative duets and quartets. Simultaneously, a careful selection of Picasso's paintings will be projected on a large screen. The objective will be to deliver an expert mix of "sound-image-emotion".
One of the highlights of the performance will be the Australian premiere of Mr Andia's composition, INMEMORIAL "sobre temas revolucionarios" for two equal guitars. This musical work attempts to give a "voice" to Picasso's celebrated painting "Guernica", the powerful depiction of a Basque village annihilated by the fascists during the 1936 Spanish Civil War.