“"The Civil War left in its wake, among other things, misery and a broken childhood. A trail of poverty that was present in the streets—which still retain features of the Muslim era—and in the habitable hills with city dwellings for decades, and even more so in marginalized neighborhoods like Almería's La Chanca. The children, who did not fully understand what was happening, were the most affected. Raised without the essentials: basic food and clothes to wear, many lived in precarious shacks and caves, being forced into domestic work. These are boys and girls who did not have a childhood and a future like ours. These photographs are an unquestionable graphic testimony of a difficult period in our history: the one they had to live through, the underage children of La Chanca of the last century."
Perceval's Photography Exhibition at Cabo de Gata Clinic
The exhibition, featuring 16 black and white images, portrays the lives of children in La Chanca during the post-war period.
By Macarena Luque Romero
••3 min read
IA
Image of an old black and white photograph of children playing in a Mediterranean neighborhood.
The Cabo de Gata Health Clinic in Almería is hosting an exhibition until April 30, showcasing 16 black and white photographs by Jesús de Perceval, which document the lives of children in the La Chanca neighborhood during the post-war period.
The exhibition, titled Children of La Chanca in the photography of Jesús de Perceval, was inaugurated by Antonio Garrido Estrella, Head of the Public Health Service. Also present was Rubén García Felices, editor and curator of the exhibition, who explained the works to the public. Healthcare professionals from the clinic, including Enriqueta Quesada Yáñez, a family doctor and promoter of the exhibition space, as well as artist friends and clinic users, also attended.
The images, taken by Perceval in the 1950s, capture the daily life of children and adolescents in the Pescadería-La Chanca neighborhood, a marginalized area of Almería. These photographs, created in collaboration with Pérez Siquier and AFAL, reflect the challenges of post-war Spain, depicting the urban context, children's play, and domestic labor of minors.
The curator emphasizes that Perceval's photographs seek the poetry in the common and the everyday, with children as a recurring theme. The images not only show childhood innocence but also the harsh reality of misery imposed by the context of the era, while capturing the dignity, joy, and spontaneity of their faces.
The exhibition is complemented by a 52-page printed book-catalog, which includes the photographs, textual information, and an interview with María del Mar Perceval, the artist's daughter. This publication, produced by Rubén García Felices with the support of the Almería Health District of the Andalusian Health Service and the Jesús de Perceval Friends Cultural Association, is a limited edition not intended for sale. It is available for loan at the Cabo de Gata Health Clinic and in public and private libraries, such as the «Francisco Villaespesa» Provincial Public Library in Almería and the Library of the Reina Sofía National Art Centre Museum in Madrid.
This initiative underscores García Felices's commitment to local artists, as demonstrated by his previous exhibition, Diversity and plurality in current Almerian photography, at the Almería School of Art last year, which also featured works by Perceval. The current exhibition aims to bring the work of this founder of the Indalian Movement closer to the residents and visitors of Cabo de Gata.
