Crónica21 Archive: Building a Picture of the Present

Crónica21 is an on-line multidisciplinary archive of documentary stories and analysis about the deepening economic, political and social crisis in Spain, from 2008 to the present. Inspired by the Farm Security Administration initiative, part of US President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s, our particular version is adapted to the European Union of the 21st Century.

We understand that journalism and various forms of vibrant cultural and artistic expression not only frame reality, but can also enable people to empathize with others. By including photography, video, illustration, text, audio and web, we hope to build a picture of the present that can help raise awareness and promote positive change in the immediate future.

In order to act for change it is crucial to be well informed. While there is a large amount of existing material addressing the current situation in Spain, it is not necessarily reaching the broad public and too often important stories go unread and unseen by a wide audience.

Our objective is to pull these existing stories and projects together into one “container” that can be easily accessed by the public. In this way we can help provide for analysis and interpretation of the current situation and address the fundamental question: where can we go from here?

The archive has been designed to continually feed new work, from authors to the public. We will we provide updates and engage the public in dialogue through our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

What are the long-term objectives of Crónica21?

At the same time that we actively maintain the archive, we aim to raise funds that can be used to promote the production of new, in-depth work addressing not just the causes and consequences of the crisis, but also the solutions being sought by Spaniards to their current situation.

We will also explore creative and innovative ways to distribute material from Crónica21’s archive to help stimulate public discourse and spur reform. We aim to bring the stories to the public through, among other methods, theatrical and musical performances, poetry readings, public installations, film, lectures, exhibitions and publications.

Who is behind Crónica21?

Crónica21 is an initiative of the Barcelona-based association Al-liquindoi, founded by Jessica Murray and Gonzalo Höhr. Over the past decade Al-liquindoi has trained documentary photographers and photojournalists, explored the use of multimedia storytelling for public awareness, and helped to develop independent voices in the media. This initiative has been made possible thanks to the help of a network of people who believe, like we do, in the importance of being informed and the need for tools like Crónica21 to build a better world for us all.