Miguel Ángel Hernández

La Hoja is an inclusive space, a non-productive bastion of calm and beauty that encourages collective and relational interactions. This project by the international art and architecture studio Fahr 021.3, which reminds us of a huge blank sheet of paper that has somehow landed on Nave 17 at Matadero, will not only allow visitors to use it spontaneously but it will also be transformed into a stage of appropriation in which the different events of the programme will take place. It is a place where you can spend time, where everyone can write their own little story through an experience, no matter how short it is. Within the framework of Capítulo Uno (Chapter One), La Hoja will belong to “The Unpredictable”. Curated by Miguel Ángel Hernández, the aim of this project is to generate a space of exception in which to say those things that cannot be said, a place in which to really express what we desire. Visitors to the festival will be able to come to this space to chase away their fears and express their desires by writing them down on anonymous notes.

Miguel Ángel Hernández (Murcia, 1977) is a professor of Art History at the University of Murcia, as well as a writer, curator and art critic. His first novel, “Escape Attempt” (Anagrama, 2013) —semi-finalist of the 30th Herralde Novel Prize and winner of the Narrative section of the Ciudad de Alcalá Awards and La Culturería Awards— was followed by “The Instant of Danger”, finalist of the 33rd Herralde Novel Prize, and “The Pain of the Rest” (Anagrama, 2018). On Christmas Eve, 1995, the best friend of Miguel Ángel Hernández murdered his sister and took his own life. “The Pain of the Rest”, a grim and honest novel, halfway between crime thriller and autobiographical confession, tells this story. His last essays are “Art Against the Clock” (Akal, 2020) and “The Gift of the Siesta” (Anagrama, 2020).

Patrick Hamilton (Leuven, 1974) holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chile. In 2007, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in New York. In 2006 he was artist in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York. His work has been exhibited at the Reina Sofía Museum; the MAAT Museum in Lisbon; the Wifredo Lam Centre in Havana; the Bronx Museum in New York; the Ujazdowski Castle Contemporary Art Centre, Warsaw; the Pavilion of Urgency at the 55th Venice Biennale; the Sao Paulo Biennale; and the Havana Biennale, among others. He currently lives and works between Madrid and Santiago de Chile.