Janire Nájera (born 1981) is a Spanish multimedia artist, documentary photographer and producer, living and working in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. Nájera has specialised in storytelling through immersive media, founding Europe's first immersive research lab, CULTVR Lab in 2019 to assist in the development and presentation of digital arts, live performance, and

fulldome Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video display environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time (interactive) or pre-rendered (linear) computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments. Although t ...

cinema. Her publications include ''Atomic Ed'' (2019), unveiling the journey of

Ed Grothus Edward Bernard Grothus (June 28, 1923 – February 12, 2009) was an American machinist and technician at the Los Alamos National Laboratory during the 1950s and 1960s. In later life he became the owner of a surplus store which he used as a b ...

from working in

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

to becoming an outspoken anti-nuclear activist; and ''Moving Forward Looking Back: Journeys Across the Old Spanish Trail'' (2015), a documentary project looking for the traces of intangible heritage that evoke Spanish culture in the American Southwest.

Life and work

Nájera was born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, Basque Country. She grew up in

Nájera Nájera () is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic titular see, former capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the F ...

, la Rioja until she settled in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

to study a BA in Communications Sciences at

Universidad Complutense The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. Later on, Nájera studied

documentary photography Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

University of Wales, Newport The University of Wales, Newport ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Casnewydd), was a university based in Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university had two campuses in Newport, Caerleon ...

. In 2017 she was a Research scholar at Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, at

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

, California. In 2018 she was an artist in residence at Society of Arts and Technology (SAT), Montreal, Canada.

''Moving forward, looking back''

Looking for the traces of intangible heritage that evokes Spanish culture in the American Southwest, Nájera travelled along the Old Spanish Trail following in the footsteps of

Antonio Armijo Antonio Mariano Armijo (1804–1850) was a Spanish explorer and merchant who is famous for leading the first commercial caravan party between Abiquiú, Nuevo México and San Gabriel Mission, Alta California in 1829–1830. His route, the southe ...

, who first opened this trade route in the 19th century. Her project combines a collection of portraits and interviews with the travel diary written by Nájera during the trip. Through a contemporary artistic language, ''Moving Forward, Looking Back'' provides an insight into how the traditions of the first settlers have merged with local cultures and have influenced the identity of today’s pueblos and modern cities in the states of

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

''Atomic Ed''

''Atomic Ed'' is about american antinuclear

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

who worked at the

in New Mexico for two decades. Ed Grothus had first arrived at this hidden outpost of science to work as a machinist for the laboratory in 1949. During what Ed considered to be an unjust Vietnam War he felt no longer able to support the development of nuclear weapons and left his job becoming one of the most outspoken protestors of the 20th Century. Najera undertook extensive research to collect archival documents, past and recent photographs and a selection of letters from over 50 years of correspondence between Ed Grothus and politicians, scientists, the media and his family taking us back and forth through the nuclear history of the USA.

CULTVR Lab

CULTVR is Europe’s first immersive arts venue facilitating research into the production, development and exhibition of shared immersive cultural experiences. CULTVR provides an environment for researchers, producers, technologists, film and theatre makers, artists, academics and performers to come together in the pursuit of

cinema, digital arts, Virtual Reality and immersive experiences. It opened its doors in Cardiff in 2019.

Publications

*''Ghosts in Armour''. Bilbao: Fundación Bilbao Arte Fundazioa, 2010. Edition of 600 copies. *''Moving Forward, Looking Back.'' Barcelona: RM, 2015. . Edition of 1000 copies. *''Atomic Ed''. Barcelona: RM, 2019. . With a foreword by Celia Jackson. Edition of 1500 copies.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*2015: ''Moving Forward, Looking Back'', FRAS, Washington, D.C. *2015: ''Moving Forward, Looking Back'', Diffusion Photography Festival, Cardiff, UK *2015: ''Moving Forward, Looking Back'', ZAWP Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain *2016: ''The Black Hole'', Ayuntamiento de Logroño, La Rioja, Spain *2016: ''Moving Forward, Looking Back'',

National Hispanic Cultural Center The National Hispanic Cultural Center is an institution in Albuquerque, New Mexico dedicated to Hispanic culture, arts and humanities. The campus spans 20 acres and is located along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Avenida César Cháv ...

, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (March–September) *2017: ''Moving Forward, Looking Back'',

, California, USA (February–June)

Multimedia projects

*''Liminality Live'', Cardiff-Montreal. 4Pi Productions and Society of Arts & Technology. 2018. *''Juniper'', Cardiff. Slowly Rolling Camera and 4Pi Productions. 2019. *''Black Mantis''. Cardiff. Deri Roberts and 4Pi Productions. 2020.

Awards

*2009: 100 European Young Talents, Europe's Creative Regions and Cities *2016: Winner UK, Flash Forward,

Magenta Foundation The Magenta Foundation is a charitable art publishing house based in Toronto. It was established in 2004 by MaryAnn Camilleri to publish work from both domestic and international emerging artists through exhibitions and publications. In 2005 the fo ...

*2018: Best Artistic Film, Macon Film Festival Fulldome, for ''Liminality'' (director and producer) *2018: Best Short Film, Janus Award 12th Jena Fulldome Festival, for ''Liminality'' (director and producer) *2018: Best Short Film, Minsk International Fulldome Festival, for ''Liminality'' (director and producer)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nájera, Janire Basque artists Living people Documentary photographers Complutense University of Madrid alumni Alumni of the University of Wales, Newport 1981 births