In the context of the forthcoming publication of her selected writings in English (b_books, 2027), this workshop – led by the artist and the book’s editors – centres on Ruido’s Plan Rosebud project (2006-2008).
Plan Rosebud focuses on then-recent social debate around “The Historical Memory Act” in Spain, and the relations between sites of memory and the politics of memory produced through the cultural industries; and on the Spanish Transition, the period after the end of Franco’s rule.
Through analysis of social movements and popular culture, it seeks to dismantle the idea that a pact among the Spanish ruling elite, led by Adolfo Suárez and King Juan Carlos, “saved” Spain from a new civil war and paved the way for a “peaceful” transition to a democratic regime. The project attempts to study popular culture in relation to the different social forces that were the protagonists of political change (unions, the feminist movement, neighbourhood associations and gay and lesbian collectives) and analyse why and how certain images from militant cinema showing the collective efforts of these fights have been directly or indirectly censored to make possible the triumphalist, individualistic and linear narrative learned through television and the press.
In the workshop we will watch sections of the film Plan Rosebud, collectively read fragments of Ruido’s accompanying text, and discuss these together.
The workshop will be held in English and Spanish (Spanish will be translated into English throughout).
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Nicolas Helm-Grovas (*1988, Vigo) is a writer based in Berlin. He is the author of Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen: Towards Counter-Cinema (Brill, 2026). His writing has appeared in publications such as Oxford Art Journal, Radical Philosophy, Discourse, New Left Review: Sidecar, Burlington Contemporary and Public Review. With Kodwo Eshun and Oliver Fuke he is currently editing a three-volume collection of writings by Peter Wollen for Verso.
Anna R. Winder (*1995, Aarhus) is an artist, writer, librarian, and publisher. She is part of the b_books collective, which runs a bookshop and a publishing house, and is the librarian at the ICI Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry. Together with Elbe Trakal, she is the founding co-editor of Fat Vampire Press. She lives and works in Berlin.
