thumb|295x295px|Madrid at night in 1980, photo by [[Paolo Monti. Members of the Movida coined several notable slogans of the city: Madrid nunca duerme ("Madrid never sleeps"), Esta noche todo el mundo a la calle ("Tonight everybody to the street") or Madrid me mata ("Madrid kills me").]]

La Movida Madrileña (, 'the Madrid scene'), also known simply as La Movida, was a countercultural movement that emerged mainly in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy following the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. The movement coincided with Spain's economic growth and a widespread desire to forge a post-Franco identity.

Characteristics

La Movida Madrileña's central component was an aesthetic influenced by punk rock and synth-pop music, as well as visual schools such as dada and futurism.

Examples

The Movida encompassed several different genres of art; Pedro Almodóvar became a well-known example internationally after his success as a film director.

Two popular bands of the Movida were Mecano and Alaska y los Pegamoides. Songs like "¿A quien le importa?" (What's it to you) and (Not you, not anyone) represented themes of self-expression and confidence.

Film and television

thumb|upright|Film director [[Pedro Almodóvar (pictured in 1988) emerged during the Movida Madrileña.]]

Almodóvar comically reflected the messiness of the freedom of those years, particularly in his films Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón;  Laberinto de pasiones;

Photography and painting

Notable photographers of the Movida include Alberto García-Alix, Ouka Leele, and Miguel Trillo. These photographers focused their work on bands, concerts, and their scenes. Illustrator Ceesepe is considered a major figure in the movement and with his friends El Hortelano and Ouka Leele moved from comics to painting as their primary expression—Ouka Leele's photographs were hand-painted color over black-and-white images.

Graffiti

Juan Carlos Argüello, a.k.a. Muelle, was the principal street artist of the Movida. Argüello's unique style, originating in Madrid's Campamento neighborhood, would later be described as “graffiti autóctono madrileño” (autochthonous Madrilenian graffiti) and inspired many subsequent Spanish street artists. Argüello also founded a punk rock band, Salida de Emergencia (“Emergency Exit”), in which he played the drums. He would die in 1995. While the graffiti arising from the Movida was originally treated with suspicion by Madrid authorities, it has since been preserved and promoted by the city. On October 19, 2016, Madrid dedicated a special garden to him in the neighborhood where he once lived. Chueca became renowned as a center of Spanish lesbian literature.

Legacy

The Movida continues to exert cultural influence on Spain. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, aspects of the movement were revived in a movement dubbed "La Removida". The "Removida" aimed to enshrine the memory of the original Movida through documentation, events, and films, and bring the ambiguous principles of postmodern identity back to the fore.

See also

  • Movida viguesa
  • Ruta del Bakalao
  • Basque Radical Rock

References

Sources

  • Photogallery of the photograph Gorka De Duo