SMOKE FILES. A tour of Tabakalera. Archiveras del Humo, 2023, 58´

SMOKE FILES. A tour of Tabakalera, Archiveras del Humo, 2023, 58´

Free entry until full capacity / There will be a previous presentation and a colloquium after the projection of the hand of Las archiveras del humo.

In addition to making cigarettes, Lupe, Asun, Susi, Marivi, Clara, Pili and Maite lived, shared, learned, fought and celebrated many things in the warehouses that now house the Tabakalera cultural project. The cigarette makers called the factory “Smoke University” for all that it meant in their lives.

This audiovisual piece shows a tour (physical and vital) discussed through the spaces of Tabakalera. A critical dialogue between the past and the present of the building, which relies on previously collected and selected materials from the smoke archive, and with the voices, views and experiences of a group of women who worked together.

The Las archiveras del Humo project has been the result of years of collective work in which former and current Tabakalera workers rescue and problematize the history and stories of Tabacalera. We want to question the unique stories and what is considered “official history”, with the aim of activating a critical memory that helps us to review imaginaries about factory culture, the work of women and the transformations of cities. And also to understand the importance of life stories and subjective and situated stories to read the present and imagine the future with all its complexity.