A morning with Miquel del Pozo

In this talk we will see how artists from different eras have illustrated texts from Antiquity and, in particular, we will look at how ancient (mythological) narratives and these museum images (of the past) are still fully valid today and, through of the centuries, they tell us about us (and others).

Who are we, how do we define ourselves, how do others see us? Throughout history, art has represented in images the idea we have of ourselves and of others. The so-called paradox of identity is central to this process: how is it possible that we continue to be ourselves throughout time? For example, our body is constantly changing, day after day, yet this does not prevent us from recognizing ourselves, and being recognized by others, as the same person.

This transformation of bodies into other bodies and forms, compatible with the permanence of an unchanging core, an identity, is at the very heart of our imagination of metamorphosis. It was Ovid's Metamorphoses, the classic text in which human bodies are transformed into bodies of another sex, or into animals, plants and objects, that gave rise to a degree of understanding of identity that continues to be topical today. Taking this text as his starting point, the architect and popularizer of art Miquel del Pozo invites us on a journey through history to understand how we have conceived and represented the paradox of identity.