Pedro Balbás is a curator, artist, and cultural agent currently based in Madrid.

“Plant a thought and watch it grow
Wind it up and let it go”
– Glen Hansard

In Pedro’s words: “‘Once’ is named after and inspired by the homonymous movie from which I have taken this introductory quote. It tells a story about many stories, it is a starting point to talk about things I once had, places I once was, loved ones I once had. Memories always make me wonder, for instance, what remains in ourselves when someone disappears? Will we ever revisit that place, that feeling, or that touch, still engraved in our skin? and how will it be then? Is it all lost? Obviously not. Everything we lose along the way is part of what we become in every step we take in this process of moving forward. Progress. Adaptation. A fact.

During these hard and uncertain weeks since the [Covid 19] outbreak, I’ve been going on with this almost like an obsession, looking at old notes and photos, drawings and texts, trying to make up with my past in some way as I know many others have, since loneliness and confinement bring us to introspection as long as we stay alert and listen. My little apartment has so far been my only scenario, here I have lately paid attention to details that I never noticed before. One of them has to do with a magic phenomenon that takes place in my bedroom: Everyday the sun goes through the window shutter and reflects multiple circle beams of light on my old chest of drawers, it happens only a few minutes before sunset and every single time it’s different, like an infinite creation. I’ve tried not to miss the spectacle ever since I discovered it. Perception sharpened.

In ‘Once’ I’ve cathartically connected that special moment of light to the action of taking out of a drawer some objects that are relevant and symbolic to me. My hand recognises them and lets them gently fall. The slow motion makes them seem heavy, maybe because they’re filled with emotions that weigh, with wounds that heal and with revealing mistakes.”

Concept & Creation | Pedro Balbás
Curator of The Long Minute | Bronwyn Lace