Janire Nájera Explained

Janire Nájera
Birth Place:Bilbao, Basque Country
Nationality:Spanish / British
Known For:Documentary photography, immersive arts, fulldome

Janire Nájera (born 1981) is a Spanish multimedia artist, documentary photographer and producer,[1] [2] living and working in Cardiff, Wales.[3] [4] [5]

Nájera has specialised in storytelling through immersive media, founding Europe's first immersive research lab, CULTVR Lab in 2019 [6] to assist in the development and presentation of digital arts, live performance, and fulldome cinema.[7]

Her publications include Atomic Ed (2019),[8] [9] [10] unveiling the journey of Ed Grothus from working in Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to becoming an outspoken anti-nuclear activist; and Moving Forward Looking Back: Journeys Across the Old Spanish Trail (2015),[11] [12] a documentary project looking for the traces of intangible heritage that evoke Spanish culture[13] in the American Southwest.[14]

Life and work

Nájera was born in Bilbao, Basque Country.[3] She grew up in Nájera, la Rioja[15] until she settled in Madrid to study a BA in Communications Sciences at Universidad Complutense.[16] Later on, Nájera studied documentary photography at University of Wales, Newport.[17] [18] In 2017 she was a Research scholar at Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, at Chapman University, California.[19] In 2018 she was an artist in residence at Society of Arts and Technology (SAT), Montreal, Canada.[20]

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, 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.[21] 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 New Mexico and California.[22]

Atomic Ed

Atomic Ed is about american antinuclear activist Ed Grothus who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico for two decades.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25] [26]

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 fulldome cinema, digital arts, Virtual Reality and immersive experiences. It opened its doors in Cardiff in 2019.[27]

Publications

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Multimedia projects

Awards

Notes and References

  1. News: Taller 'Del archivo fotográfico a la realidad virtual' con la artista Janire Nájera, este miércoles en la Amós Salvador . 2019-09-10 . La Vanguardia.
  2. Web site: Janire Janire . European Prospects . 23 March 2016.
  3. News: Jenkins . Mark . In the galleries: A photojournalist's journey . 2015-06-12 . The Washington Post.
  4. News: Rond . Stephanie . Fresh Artists . 2016-04-11 . PBS.
  5. News: Redacción . La artista riojana Janire Nájera conquista Newport, Bilbao y ahora Bruselas . 2009-03-13 . La Rioja.
  6. Web site: Wales to Host Europe's First Immersive Arts Research Tech Hub . Wales Arts Review . 27 September 2019 . 2019-09-27.
  7. Web site: CULTVR Lab . Cardiff's Newest Venue Opens Tomorrow . Arts Council of Wales . 2019-11-20.
  8. News: Culture . Fancy a mushroom-cloud mineral water? Relics of the atomic era – in pictures . 2014-08-15 . The Guardian.
  9. Web site: Zoo . Alice . Book Review . 24 April 2019 . 1000 Words Magazine . 2019-05-01.
  10. Web site: Bookshop . Book Presentation . The Photographers Gallery . 2019-05-18.
  11. News: Wren . Celia . Conjuring Spain on a journey through the American Southwest . 2015-05-15 . The Washington Post.
  12. Web site: Kuittinen . Riikka . Book Review . Photomonitor . 2015-10-01.
  13. News: A vivir que son dos días . 2014-04-19 . Cadena SER . min. 13.00 – 16.30.
  14. Web site: Hernandez . Antonio . 10 minutes with Janire Najera . Cultures, causes & commerce . 9 June 2015 . 2015-06-20.
  15. News: Los pintores que ya no ven sólo viñas . 2010-10-15 . La Rioja.
  16. Web site: Hughes . Barry W . JANIRE NAJERA: LAST STAND AT LOS ALAMOS . SMBH . 2013-12-01.
  17. Web site: University of South Wales 100 Years Of Photography At Newport . 2012-04-27.
  18. Web site: Graduate Photography Online / 2008 . Source Magazine . 2008-06-01.
  19. Web site: Escalette Permanent Collection of Art . Phyllis & Ross . Artists info . Chapman University . 2018-04-01.
  20. Web site: Multimedia Artist & Photojournalist . SXSW . 2020-03-01.
  21. News: Gente Despierta . 2014-03-14 . RNE . min. 7.15 – 22.
  22. News: Agencia EFE . Retrato íntimo de la Ruta 66 mexicana . 2014-04-20 . El Diario.
  23. News: Lowry . David . US atomic worker turned maverick anti-nuclear activist . 24 March 2009 . The Guardian.
  24. News: Brownlee . John . The Black Hole of Los Alamos . 12 May 2006 . Wired.
  25. Web site: Artist's book by Janire Nájera . Photo-eye . 2019-05-11.
  26. News: 'One bomb too many´ . 2018-08-15 . LA Monitor.
  27. Web site: Cardiff's newest cultural offering CULTVR LAB opens its doors . Creative Cardiff . 21 November 2019.
  28. News: Una exposición muestra en el Parlamento Europeo la transformación industrial en Bilbao, Gales y Ruhr . 2011-03-28 . La Información.
  29. News: Chamberlain . Laura . Ghosts in Armour returns to The Riverfront, Newport . 2010-09-06 . BBC.
  30. News: Oczypok . Kate . Photojournalist Takes Reflective Road Trip Across Old Spanish Trail . 2015-05-29 . The Washington Diplomat.
  31. Book: Jackson . Celia . Absent Presences, Unconscious Collaborators:: Metaphotography and the Black Hole . February 2019 . 161–163 . University of South Wales . 9788417047610 . 2019-02-24.
  32. News: Janire Nájera muestra en Barcelona la historia nuclear de EEUU en Guerra Fría . 2019-10-24 . La Vanguardia.
  33. News: Pascual Macías . Beatriz . De N.México a California, retrato de la esencia española en suroeste de EEUU . 2015-05-01 . La Vanguardia.
  34. News: Jenkins . Kevin . Spain's legacy in the Southwest . 2014-04-26 . The Durango Herald.
  35. News: Sanchez Cañete . Jesus . Janire Nájera mostrará la influencia española en el continente americano a través de sus fotografías . 2014-03-22 . USA Hispanic.
  36. Web site: Sritharan . Brennavan . Looking for America – Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography returns . British Journal of Photography . 2015-10-08.
  37. Web site: Janire Nájera. "Moving Forward, Looking Back". El. Correo. agenda.elcorreo.com. 13 November 2015.
  38. News: Undurraga . Ane . Mi obra es arte que está en proceso; no está terminada . 2020-01-25 . Deia.
  39. Web site: Janire Nájera. "The Black Hole". El. Correo. agenda.elcorreo.com. 2 March 2016.
  40. News: Espinosa . Estíbaliz . El arte de documentar con imágenes . 2016-03-03 . La Rioja.
  41. News: Beckwith . Spencer . Journeying Across The Old Spanish Trail . 2016-04-15 . KUNM.
  42. Web site: Moving Forward, Looking Back Goes Digital! - Wilkinson Scholars-in-Residence Create Digital Version of Exhibition. 2020-12-29. Escalette Permanent Collection of Art at Chapman University. en-US.
  43. Web site: Liminality . Quebec Danse . 2018-03-01.
  44. Web site: Hybrid multisensory performance comes to Wales . Wales Arts International . 2019-03-26.
  45. Web site: Juniper . Echo Music . 2019-04-02.
  46. Web site: Juniper . Diffusion Festival . 2019-04-03.
  47. https://vehir.hu/data/file/2009/04/14/100_talents_biograpghies.pdf/
  48. Web site: Flash Forward 2016. The Magenta. Foundation. The Magenta Foundation.
  49. Web site: 2018 Festival Winners. Macon Film Festival.
  50. Web site: 2018 Fulldome Festival Award Winners – Fulldome News.
  51. Web site: MIFF 2018 AWARDS | MIFF. miff.planetarium.by.

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