The Guitar Holiday

The Spanish - the makers of music

Traditional Belgrade Guitar Art Festival provided the guitar lovers the opportunity to get acquainted with some of the most representative examples of this instrument in manual making. Traditional makers' names such as Manuel Rodriguez & Sons and Manuel Contreras exhibited their guitars, made of pine and cedar, and the owners of these houses diligently represented their works, speaking of the materials and construction process, but also about the history and understanding of the guitar as a part of the Spanish identity


By MILICA MILOSAVLJEVIĆ
Cooperation with the magazine of Association of Hispanists "REFLEJO"
Translation: SANDRA IVANOVIĆ


The long anticipated concert of a well-known flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia was held on February 12th at the Belgrade Sava Center hall, as the central event of the Guitar Art Festival (GAF). GAF, however, provided the guitar lovers the opportunity to get acquainted with some of the most representative examples of this instrument in manual making. Traditional makers' names such as Manuel Rodriguez & Sons and Manuel Contreras exhibited their guitars, made of pine and cedar, and the owners of these houses diligently represented their works, speaking of the materials and construction process, but also about the history and understanding of the guitar as a part of the Spanish identity.

This is the second year to be that merchants, exhibitors, and guitar makers get together, but for the first time handmade guitars by some famous Spanish makers could be seen. Manuel Contreras, the owner of the eponymous company for making guitars, has especially engaged himself in this year's fair, donating one of his guitar to the winner of the free-style competition. Contreras is the second in his family who deals with the making of guitars. Family business, as he says, was started by his father in 1967, only to be continued by Contreras himself in 1988. His guitars are handmade, and the process on average takes three months. Durint the process a combination of pine, cedar and sacred wood (palo santo) is usually used, depending on the part of the guitar that is being made. Contreras says that the most important things for the guitar are: acoustics, the projection of the sound and the material used.

While talking to Mr. Rodriguez Jr., we understand what the vocation of a guitar maker means to him.

- 'The work was started by my grandfather in 1905 with his workshop, was carried on by my father, who passed our name in the U.S., only to be finally returned to Spain and opened a factory of guitars next to Toledo, that I now own. I was born in Los Angeles, where I have lived for the most of my life, but after the establishment of the factory I moved to Spain, in order to continue the family tradition - says Rodríguez Jr.

He talked about the ancient origins of the Spanish Guitar (the beginning of the 17th century) and how it represents the Spanish identity, the thing the Spanish are famous for worldwide. Bearing this in mind, he stresses the importance of promoting the brand right across the guitar makers and their placement in the world. Rodriguez JR. launched a series of actions at the global level, such as the cooperation with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in the project to help the children in Africa, the cooperation with Eastern countries such as China and Japan, where the care is taken of some segments of the Spanish culture, the making of ecological guitars, the production of which does not damage the ecosystem. All these projects aim to approach and maintain the music, the instruments and the beauty of this rich tradition, and to engage and awake global population through it.

One of the projects planned for 2011 is a great tour of the guitars exhibition of the Rodriguez production, that will visit each of Instituto Cervantes in the world, including of course the one in Belgrade.

For additional information, visit the sites: www.manuelcontreras.com and www.guitars-m-r-sons.com.



(Published: 10.03.2010.)