The “El Mercado” Museum of Contemporary Art in Villanueva de los Infantes is opening the exhibition “The Imprint of the Gaze: Photography and Society in Castilla-La Mancha, 1839–1936”

A visual journey through the evolution of Castilian-La Mancha society between the 19th and 20th centuries will be on view starting July 12 at the “El Mercado” Museum of Contemporary Art in Villanueva de los Infantes. The new exhibition hosted by this cultural space is titled “The Imprint of the Gaze. Photography and Society in Castilla-La Mancha, 1839–1936’ and opened this Sunday.

Curated by photohistorian, journalist, and member of the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, Publio López Mondéjar, this ambitious exhibition marks the culmination of more than ten years of research and curation on his part.  The collection of photographs that makes up the exhibition has recently become part of the Julián Castilla Collection, thus ensuring its preservation, dissemination, and promotion as an outstanding cultural and ethnographic heritage. “It has been exhibited in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, and at all Cervantes Institute locations abroad,” notes Castilla. “I was really looking forward to bringing it to Infantes, because these images reflect a difficult era for Castilla-La Mancha,” he says.

The exhibition, which will remain at the Museum of Villanueva de los Infantes through September 26, 2027, is one of the most significant photographic collections ever compiled on the region, spanning the period from the dawn of photography in 1839 to 1936, the start of the Spanish Civil War. A total of 75 images reflect traditions, customs, and everyday moments through the eyes of various photographers of the era: from the most iconic figures of popular photography, such as Casiano Alguacil, Luis Escobar, Luciano Armero, Ricardo Sánchez, Nicanor Cañas, and Julián Collado; to the most prestigious portrait photographers, such as Jaime Belda, Vicente Rubio, Lucas Fraile, and Eugenio Rodríguez; and even the great foreign travelers, such as Ch. Clifford, J. Laurent, E. K. Tension, Levy, Loty, and Roisin.

The opening ceremony was attended by the mayor of Villanueva de los Infantes, Carmen María Montalbán, and the Councilor for Culture and Tourism, Francisco Javier Peinado, along with other members of the municipal council; as well as the provincial delegate for Economy, Business, and Employment of the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha in Ciudad Real, Miguel Ángel Díaz Brazales. The mayor expressed her gratitude “to everyone who made this exhibition possible, and especially to Julián Castilla,” emphasizing that “Infantes is proud to continue strengthening this museum with world-class exhibitions that enrich our heritage and invite us to view the past with fresh eyes.”