Descripción de la Exposición
Rande: A Bridge Over Captain Nemo’s Haven shows 25 contemporary views on the symbol of a mythical place—Rande and the Vigo estuary. The exhibition consists of the top-selected images participating in the Autopistas del Atlántico photography prize, convened by Autopistas del Atlántico SA for the first time in 2019.
Rande’s bridge, constructed in 1978 over the Vigo estuary, located in the south of Galicia (Spain), has become a reference space in the history of universal literature and music since the thirteenth-century Galician troubadour Martin Codax wrote about the melancholy he felt when contemplating the waves of the sea that formed. These historical songs are in parchments that have been part of the collection of the Morgan Library of New York since 1977.
In the nineteenth century, a new literary appearance in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage by Jules Verne, gave Rande’s bridge a mythical dimension that remains to this day. “Right now we are in the same bay of Vigo and it is only up to you to find the mysteries that are enclosed in it.” This was announced by Captain Nemos to Professor Aronnax in his Nautilus cabin on February 18th, 1868. He would later relate the historic battle of Rande. The battle took place on October 23, 1702, where twenty ships of the Franco-Spanish fleet, which carried the largest shipment ever known of gold, silver and precious stones from the Americas, faced more than sixty ships of the English and Dutch. Today is believed that out of the galleons that were lost in the combat, part of the treasure is still in its deep waters of Rande’s estuary.
The recent expansion of the infrastructure of the bridge, carried out between 2016 and 2017, has turned Rande into an engineering milestone, as it is the first extension of a cable-stayed bridge in great light. The Rande Bridge, named in 2019 by the International Bridge and Structural Engineering Association (IABSE), is the second-best bridge in the world. In addition, the bridge has been awarded as a finalist of the Outstanding Structure Award (OSTRA) award.
On the occasion of this award, Autopistas del Atlántico (Audasa), a company that manages the highway that crosses the bridge and financed the expansion of the bridge, launched a photo contest. The 25 works that are shown in the La Nacional gallery are those selected from the participants, of which the winners have been awarded Niebla, by Ricardo Grobas, and Crossing the Estuary, by Álvaro Rodríguez. Rande: A Bridge Over Captain Nemo’s Haven claims Rande as a historical and mythical place for literature, music, and art and, and today, also for engineering.
Exhibition organized by Audasa, Autopistas del Atlántico SA in collaboration with Noelia Lecue, curator of La Nacional – Spanish Benevolent Society.
Exposición. 19 nov de 2024 - 02 mar de 2025 / Museo Nacional del Prado / Madrid, España
Formación. 23 nov de 2024 - 29 nov de 2024 / Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) / Madrid, España
