The city of Gijón is already hosting the first of the four exhibitions at the 2026 Asturias International Photojournalism Festival. The exhibition, La Línea de la memoria 1936-2026, is on display at Gijón Marina until 30 July, and its opening was attended by the Deputy Minister for Citizens’ Rights of the Government of the Principality of Asturias.
It is ninety years since the start of the Spanish Civil War. Ninety years since that July 1936 when everyday life was disrupted by the military coup and its consequences: war, violence and fear. The Line of Memory 1936–2026 stems from the need to keep looking. To look, not to return to the past as a time that has ended, but to understand how its traces remain present in our cities, in our families, in the archives, in the landscapes and in the collective consciousness of our society.
The exhibition comprises twenty documentary photographs from the photographic archive of the Museu del Pueblu d’Asturies, presented in large format and arranged across five display cubes. All are by the Asturian photographer Constantino Suárez, whose work documented the social, political and everyday reality of those years.
Each image opens a window onto a time marked by destruction, displacement and resistance. The photographs depict war fronts, damaged streets, ruined buildings, refugees and evacuated civilians, anonymous bodies, faces looking directly at the camera, and everyday scenes disrupted by violence. A journey in which Asturias and Gijón feature prominently.
Constantino Suárez’s images not only enable us to reconstruct a historical period; they also convey an ethical commitment that compels us to look squarely at the truth and recognise that memory is not a passive legacy, but a collective endeavour.
Indeed, just this week the Spanish Government has officially recognised Constantino Suárez as a victim of Francoism, declaring the conviction that imprisoned him for years to be null and void, thanks to the petition submitted by the Professional Association of Asturian Photojournalists under the Democratic Memory Act.
Now more than ever, “The Line of Memory 1936–2026” reminds us, ninety years on, that understanding does not mean reopening old wounds; it means preventing oblivion from closing them prematurely.
This exhibition, organised by B-Live Red Internacional, EIFA and the Atenéu Obreru de Xixón, in collaboration with the Muséu del Pueblu d’Asturies and with funding from the Government of the Principality of Asturias and the Institute of Democratic Memory of the Principality of Asturias, forms part of the four exhibitions that the Asturias International Photojournalism Festival will be bringing to the streets of Gijón over the coming months.
The festival, whose main events will take place from 1 to 3 October, aims to raise the profile of photojournalism, foster social dialogue and bring documentary culture closer to the public through conferences, round-table discussions, specialist training, screenings, urban exhibitions and cultural events.
