Agenda

Secret Kingdoms welcomes author and artist Carmen la Griega and author Vesna Maric for a conversation about Carmen´s work : Llévame donde haya vida, or “Take me where there is life”.  This book brings together five years of diaries drawn as she cared for her father after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Through drawing, she documents the stages of the disease and the emotional changes of shared time, transforming an intimate experience into an artistic process full of humour and tenderness. 

The original notebooks are organized across time periods defined by dates and changes in material. Each stage constitutes a sensitive record of the day-to-day and of the progressive transformation. The book proposes drawing as a tool for accompaniment, care and affective resistance, even when recognition disappears. Through this practice, the artist explores the relationship between memory, presence and time, transforming an intimate experience into an artistic process of reflection on the fragility of life and the persistence of love.

The presentation of the project is accompanied by a show with images of the process and the original notebooks, which allows us to understand the project and its intimate and documentary dimension.

Carmen la Griega (Madrid, 1971) is a visual artist and educator. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid and trained as a researcher at the Athens School of Fine Arts. Her work explores the relationship between body, memory, and creation from a poetic and narrative perspective, using media such as object theatre, painting, drawing, video, and installation. She has exhibited in Spain, Berlin, Japan, and the United States, and has led workshops at institutions including the Minnesota Humanities Center, CA2M Museum, La Casa Encendida, and Fundación Telefónica. Her short film Take Me Where There Is Life received the First Prize for Documentary Film from the Reina Sofía Foundation for Alzheimer’s and the Audience Award at the Thessaloniki Festival. She is in collaboration (2024-2026) with the Minnesota Humanities Center on an artistic and educational program for people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Vesna Maric was born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her memoir, Bluebird, was published by Granta. She lives in Madrid, writes Lonely Planet travel guides and translates and writes for numerous publications, including The Guardian. She reviewed the English Text of “Take Me where there is life”.

The Event will include a bi-lingual conversation and presentation about the project, plus a Q&A. Refreshments will be served and there will be a signing. The event is free, places are limited, and we ask that you buy a 3€ voucher, redeemable at the event against any book on sale at the store*. Reserve at: thesecretkingdoms.net

*Note that “Take me where there is life” will only be available directly from Carmen la Griega at the event.