Spanish: Casilda García López, es de Madrid (al contrario que tres de sus abuelos) y nació camino al hospital en el primer Halloween del nuevo milenio bienvenida por los huesos de santo. Criada en esa ciudad de cielos velazqueños que antes se le quedaba corta y cada vez quiere más. En su adolescencia pasó temporadas viviendo entre París y California, donde abrió su mente a otras lenguas, pero sobre todo a la nostalgia. Sin saber a qué quería destinar su vida (aún sigue sin saberlo) se mudó a EEUU para la carrera: New York como único destino – los college towns le producían una claustrofobia aún mayor que su patria chica. Al estar en el sitio (in)correcto pensó que estudiando Cine (NYU Tisch) combinaría muchas de sus aflicciones – las palabras, canciones y belleza. Los derroteros profesionales le han hecho esclava de la producción. Antes escribía poesía, ahora la vive, anhelando volver a hacerlo. En su tiempo libre monta saraos con Tierra Extraña bautizada en honor a Concha Piquer con la ilusión de hacer de España, Nueva York una realidad.
Aquí están algunos versos huérfanos como prueba de que un día escribí:
Pensando en ti porque todo lo demás ya eres
Mañana sin ti, pero hoy ya es mañana
Memoria, camposanto de mi vida
English: On the first Halloween of the 21st century, Casilda García López was born in Madrid (unlike 3/4 of her grandparents) in a car on the way to the hospital and raised in the City of Velázquez's skies, once too small, now too far. As a teenager she moved around Paris and California, opening her mind to new languages, particularly nostalgia. Without knowing her path (still unknown) she moved to the US for school: New York as the only option – college towns are pueblo chico, infierno grande. Winding up in the (in)correct place she studied Film & TV at NYU Tisch, blending all her struggles – words, beauty, and songs – into stories told through image-making. The walks of life have landed her in the heart of production. Once writing poetry, now living it, waiting for the next poem as one waits for their next life. In her free time, you can find her bringing Spain to New York with Tierra Extraña.
A few orphaned poems for you to make fun of me:
I wish you all when nothing is my best answer
I always knew she was going to be my first wife but never my last
I learned how to cry without tears and love without words. And it was only then, for the few seconds that my life was to last, that I shattered my solitude with hers. And that’s when I understood the solitary confinement of a love that lasts, the musicality of the tenderness of the requited, of a life that is shared, one, where completeness is shown, and maybe, life is captivating enough to swim in its telepathy skies and smile of prison. The existence of a married man, doomed to a bullfighter’s death in a land that can only be called New York City.
Iker Veiga in Conversation with Casilda
¿Cómo nace tierraextraña? // How did Tierra Extraña come to life?
Tierra Extraña nació hace muchos años, en mi segundo desplazamiento fuera de mi país natal. En París, con trece años y dos de exilio, empecé a rememorar las películas antiguas que me ponía mi tía abuela en la infancia. Pronto descubrí la copla, después el flamenco, y a mi vuelta a España el trap empezaba a nacer. Me mudo a Nueva York con tan solo diecisiete años, y aquí inevitablemente sigue acrecentándose esta fascinación en la lejanía. La NYU me brinda becas de investigación y mi propio programa de radio para retar a oyentes hispanohablantes con géneros de música popularmente denostados. Gracias a la ayuda del Espacio de culturas entrevisto al filósofo Ernesto Castro y a los flamencos Miguel Poveda o el Niño de Elche, culminando con el primer ciclo de cine quinqui en la ciudad de Nueva York. A raíz de su éxito arrasamos en el primer evento de Tierra Extraña en el Espacio de culturas—primero con fiestas, después hilvanadas con la cultura emergente de españoles creando en Nueva York.
Tierra Extraña was born many years ago, during my second displacement outside my home country. In Paris, at the age of thirteen and two years into exile, I started to reminisce about the old movies my great aunt used to show me during my childhood. Soon, I discovered copla, then flamenco, and when I returned to Spain, trap was starting to emerge. I moved to New York at just seventeen years old, and here, inevitably, this fascination continued to grow with distance. NYU offered me research grants and my own radio program to challenge Spanish-speaking listeners with genres of music that were often looked down upon. Thanks to the help of the Cultural Space, I interviewed the philosopher Ernesto Castro and flamenco artists like Miguel Poveda and Niño de Elche, culminating in the first cine quinqui cycle in New York City. Following its success, we blew up at the first Tierra Extraña event at the Cultural Space—first with parties, then intertwined with the emerging culture of Spaniards creating in New York.
Tierra Extraña was born many years ago, during my second displacement outside my home country. In Paris, at the age of thirteen and two years into exile, I started to reminisce about the old movies my great aunt used to show me during my childhood. Soon, I discovered copla, then flamenco, and when I returned to Spain, trap was starting to emerge. I moved to New York at just seventeen years old, and here, inevitably, this fascination continued to grow with distance. NYU offered me research grants and my own radio program to challenge Spanish-speaking listeners with genres of music that were often looked down upon. Thanks to the help of the Cultural Space, I interviewed the philosopher Ernesto Castro and flamenco artists like Miguel Poveda and Niño de Elche, culminating in the first cine quinqui cycle in New York City. Following its success, we blew up at the first Tierra Extraña event at the Cultural Space—first with parties, then intertwined with the emerging culture of Spaniards creating in New York.
¿Qué tipo de eventos has organizado en el pasado? ¿Cómo conectas la cultura española con tu nuevo hogar aquí en Brooklyn? // What kind of events have you organized in the past? How do you connect Spanish culture with your new home here in Brooklyn?
En los últimos años de producción, he realizado la friolera de doce eventos en Manhattan, Queens y Brooklyn. Tierra Extraña es nómada y se nutre de la gente y los barrios que visita: fiestas con sabor a humo, ciclos de cine, conciertos y charlas que invitan a reflexionar sobre la vida del emigrante desde otros ojos. La cultura española me acompaña en mi nombre, en mis ganas de vivir más allá del trabajo, de hablar mi lengua materna, cocinarme siempre que puedo, y nacer arrepentida de no saber cantar. Siempre que tengo ocasión de compartir algún fun fact relacionado a ella, me nace hacerlo.
In recent years of production, I’ve organized a whopping twelve events in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Tierra Extraña is nomadic and feeds off the people and neighborhoods it visits: parties with a smoky vibe, film cycles, concerts, and talks that invite reflection on the life of the immigrant through different eyes. Spanish culture accompanies me in my name, in my desire to live beyond work, to speak my mother tongue, to cook whenever I can, and to be born with the regret of not knowing how to sing. Whenever I have the chance to share some fun fact related to it, I feel compelled to do so.
In recent years of production, I’ve organized a whopping twelve events in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Tierra Extraña is nomadic and feeds off the people and neighborhoods it visits: parties with a smoky vibe, film cycles, concerts, and talks that invite reflection on the life of the immigrant through different eyes. Spanish culture accompanies me in my name, in my desire to live beyond work, to speak my mother tongue, to cook whenever I can, and to be born with the regret of not knowing how to sing. Whenever I have the chance to share some fun fact related to it, I feel compelled to do so.
¿Qué podemos esperar de tierraextraña en el futuro? // What can we expect from Tierra Extraña in the future?
Más y mejor. Tierra Extraña sueña con seguir refinando la curaduría de sus iniciativas, lograr que la gente se conozca entre sí entre extraños. Crear un espacio único en Nueva York para celebrar la lengua y cultura española y generar nuevos vínculos de todo tipo. Crecer más allá de los eventos, barrer pa’ casa y traer la producción audiovisual y marcas de mi ámbito laboral a Tierra Extraña para darse a conocer en otras esferas.
More and better. Tierra Extraña dreams of continuing to refine the curation of its initiatives, making people connect with each other among strangers. To create a unique space in New York to celebrate the Spanish language and culture and build new connections of all kinds. To grow beyond events, bring it all home, and bring audiovisual production and brands from my professional sphere to Tierra Extraña, to introduce them in other circles.
More and better. Tierra Extraña dreams of continuing to refine the curation of its initiatives, making people connect with each other among strangers. To create a unique space in New York to celebrate the Spanish language and culture and build new connections of all kinds. To grow beyond events, bring it all home, and bring audiovisual production and brands from my professional sphere to Tierra Extraña, to introduce them in other circles.