More than 14.000 hours of recordings, more than 5.000 records, hundreds of films, almost half a million press clippings, 20.000 photographs, books, trophies and medals… The archive of Manuel Martin Martin, the product of an intense career spanning five decades of dedication to flamencoIt will remain forever in its hometown of Écija. The city council of this Sevillian town has formalized a long-delayed agreement to have this vast documentary collection housed in the future Las Gemelas Interpretation Center.
– Yours is a lifetime's archive. Do you remember how it all began? What was the first piece?
– It all started with the parties I experienced as a child at Malfolla's or the Cruz family's houses, which is where I met Antonio Mairena, apart from those TV programs flamenco From the mid-1960s. The announcer would ask questions to win prizes for the listeners. There was a radio broadcaster in Cabra, Paco Carmona, with whom I later became deep friends, and my brother and I, twins, won more than one prize; the biggest was a beautiful bronze candle. And that's how I started, with a hunger for knowledge, besides the fact that our grandmother's house was where we celebrated family holidays, and there were always plenty of prizes. flamencoThis heritage was instilled in us so much that I would continue the tradition with my children's celebrations, to the point that my daughter was baptized by the Most Illustrious Fernanda de Utrera, and my son's baptism was remembered with Curro Mairena, Manuel Mairena, Curro Malena or Juana la del Revuelo, among many others.
– Ultimately, the archive remains in your town. Could it have ended up somewhere else? Have you received offers from other cities or institutions?
– Yes. Indeed. I've had offers from many public institutions – some have even congratulated me on the decision – and from private collectors with significant sums of money on offer, but I was always clear about it, albeit with a slight hesitation, when I offered it to the Écija City Council in October 1995. That proposal from over 30 years ago didn't come to fruition because of two left-wing political groups, one of which I had given its first speeches during the post-Franco era. They simply didn't understand why the flamenco It was Culture with a capital C and, moreover, the memory of Andalusia and the hallmark that defines us.
"Now I'm going to think about how happy I am when I have a clear conscience knowing that I have finally fulfilled my wish, that the archive will remain in the city where I was born and where I live, guarded and preserved by the public institution."
– Was it necessary to take so long to formalize that agreement?
– That's precisely why. That conversation with the Board of Spokespersons in 1995 didn't bear fruit despite the good intentions of the mayor, Julián Álvarez Ortega, because two political groups that tend to boast about what they don't know didn't take it seriously. So time passed, the archive grew considerably until October 2023, when the current mayor, Silvia Heredia Martín, took an interest in it, already knowing that my wish and that of my children was for it to remain as a legacy for Écija. Reaching an agreement was very easy, with the Royal Academy of Vélez de Guevara acting as intermediary, an institution with which I have a relationship of esteem and respect. The City Council's general secretary drafted the agreement, we reviewed it several times to ensure its precise details, and finally my wish has been fulfilled.
– Will the archive be accessible to researchers? When and how?
– Once the restoration work on the Church of Las Gemelas, which is turning out beautifully, is finished, a company will prepare and equip the entire space, opening it up to researchers, enthusiasts, artists, and external exhibitions, as well as providing information links for scholars and the curious.
– As I mentioned before, you have been a keen scholar and collector, but you have also had close contact with the artists. How is that friendship reflected in your archive?
– That's true. That close and friendly relationship is evident in hours of home recordings, in private moments, with countless recorded parties, with people who didn't make it onto the album or who, sadly, live in anonymity, as well as personal belongings, comments to artfully adorn the shelves, and experiences that would fill a Larousse encyclopedia. flamenco.
– Many people have the idea that “everything is on the Internet now.” Is your archive proof that this isn’t the case, that there is a lot of valuable material that isn’t online?
– That's why so many mistakes are made [laughs]. A good part, I would even add a large part of the archive, does not appear on the Internet, as evidenced by the fact that many doctoral theses, fieldwork for book publications, record recordings, choreographic preparation of companies or, among others, final degree projects for the Higher Conservatory of Music have been prepared in it.
"Once the restoration work on the Church of Las Gemelas, which is turning out beautifully, is finished, a company will prepare and equip the entire space, opening it up to researchers, enthusiasts, artists, and external exhibitions, as well as providing information links for scholars and the curious."
– What would be the crown jewels, in your opinion?
– I wouldn't know how to point them out. I think the most significant thing, apart from the fact that it's digitized, is the care with which it has been created and that it will finally be made available for public use.
– Did you find it painful to part with something?
– It's like when your children go away to university. They're not there, but they're still there, with the added pleasure of knowing you're helping to build their future.
– Finally, what are you going to do now with so much emptiness in your home?
– To think how happy I am when I have the peace of mind of knowing that I have finally fulfilled my wish, that the archive will remain in the city where I was born and where I live, safeguarded and preserved by the public institution. ♦
