TORO (Photographic Exhibition + Documentary + Q&A)

HERNANDO TORO BOTERO Photographer (3 – 9 Nov)

This CinemaAttic special event will run for seven days and will see two screenings of the feature-length documentary Toro (Adriana Bernal-Mor & Ginna Ortega, 2023) alongside a photography exhibition with a selection of artist’s work, all at the Whitespace Gallery  (76 East Crosscauseway) in Edinburgh, with the collaboration of Agitate Gallery.

Documentary Screenings (Q&A with Hernando Toro Botero)

Toro / Dir. Adriana Bernal, Ginna Ortega / Colombia / 2023 / 78 mins.

Friday 3 November / EXHIBITION LAUNCHING doors open at 18:00, screening + Q&A starts at 18:30 at Whitespace Gallery.

Interserve Employee Foundation Summer Ball 2017

Sunday 5 November / doors open at 18:00, screening + Q&A starts at 18:30 at Whitespace Gallery.

Interserve Employee Foundation Summer Ball 2017

 

Photograph of the “El Gordo Fernando” sequence.

 

Hernando Toro Botero. 1970s

While he was in prison for drug trafficking in Barcelona, Hernando Toro began his career as a photographer. For more than a decade, and from a cell that he turned into a professional studio, Hernando took thousands of portraits of people who, like him, lived behind bars. Criminals, murderers, guilty and innocent posed in front of his lens and were part of an unexpected work that celebrates the “grotesque” and reveals the beauty of the marginal. His camera became the mental escape for many, because thanks to photography they reached moments of deep freedom.

Despite the richness of his work and having managed to exhibit in emblematic galleries in Europe while he was deprived of his freedom, much of Toro’s archive was forgotten once he was outside the jail. 25 years later this documentary recovers his negatives and explores not only his paths, but also part of the unpublished archive that becomes an important element to understand the dynamics of a prison such as Barcelona ones. During this process the activated memories, their irreverent stories and the authenticity of their portraits, contrast with a present in which loneliness and anonymity seem to surround him. What we began years ago as a question for the past, has become in the sighting of the last years of this magnificent artist. In this process, the construction of a friendship between the directors and the character, gradually became the guiding thread of the evolution of this film.

La Modelo Prison, Barcelona.

TRAILER: Toro / Dir. Adriana Bernal, Ginna Ortega / Colombia / 2023 / 78 mins.

Accessibility: SDH captioning captioning + English subtitling

Ages: 15+

 

Credits

Director Rafael Cueto
Coordinator David Sierra Márquez
Curator Jaime Molina (Agitate Gallery)
Curator Digital Exhibition Maria Gundestrup-Larsen
Installation John Quiroga
Q&A interpreter and translator Maria Gundestrup-Larsen
Blog article Brian Beadie

Presented by Cinemaattic
In collaboration with Agitate Gallery
Supported by Screen Scotland – Sgrìn Alba
Venue: Whitespace Gallery (76 East Crosscauseway, Edinburgh, EH8 9HQ)

 

Summary
Event
​TORO (Photographic Exhibition + Documentary Screenings)
Location
​ Whitespace Gallery , 76 EAST CROSSCAUSEWAY,Edinburgh,Edinburgh City-EH8 9HQ
Starting on
03/11/2023
Ending on
09/11/2023
Description
This CinemaAttic special event will run for seven days and will see two screenings of the feature-length documentary Toro (Adriana Bernal-Mor & Ginna Ortega, 2023) alongside a photography exhibition with a selection of the artist’s work, all at the Whitespace Gallery in Edinburgh. About Toro: While he was in prison for drug trafficking in Barcelona, Hernando Toro began his career as a photographer. For more than a decade, and from a cell that he turned into a professional studio, Hernando took thousands of portraits of people who, like him, lived behind bars. Criminals, murderers, guilty and innocent posed in front of his lens and were part of an unexpected work that celebrates the "grotesque" and reveals the beauty of the marginal. His camera became the mental escape for many, because thanks to photography they reached moments of deep freedom. Despite the richness of his work and having managed to exhibit in emblematic galleries in Europe while he was deprived of his freedom, much of Toro's archive was forgotten once he was outside the jail. 25 years later this documentary recovers his negatives and explores not only his paths, but also part of the unpublished archive that becomes an important element to understand the dynamics of a prison such as Barcelona ones. During this process the activated memories, their irreverent stories and the authenticity of their portraits, contrast with a present in which loneliness and anonymity seem to surround him. What we began years ago as a question for the past, has become in the sighting of the last years of this magnificent artist. In this process, the construction of a friendship between the directors and the character, gradually became the guiding thread of the evolution of this film. Feature Documentary: Toro / Dir. Adriana Bernal, Ginna Ortega / Colombia / 2023 / 78 mins. Accessibility:  captioning + English subtitling Ages: 15+
Offer Price
GBP 8