The project surrounding the book Las Cigarreras de Alicante documents a rich neighborhood investigation conducted through a collaborative workshop titled Las cigarreras de Alicante. This book embodies the culmination of a collective effort to capture a living history that connects the past with the present, revealing how a pivotal local chapter continues to influence the city’s identity today. Through careful archival research, community engagement, and thoughtful storytelling, the work presents a narrative that is both informative and emotionally resonant, offering readers a clear window into the everyday life and long-term impact of Alicante’s tobacco industry on residents and urban development alike.
This initiative preserves and communicates the history of the Alicante Tobacco Factory by centering the experiences and memories of the people who lived it. The project emphasizes group collaboration and a close examination of visual language, using photography and documentary methods to translate memories into accessible, contemporary forms. By foregrounding collective memory, the book makes visible a story that often remains outside mainstream history, inviting readers to reflect on how work, community, and place intertwine to shape a city’s evolution from the industrial era to the present day. In doing so, it highlights the values associated with the women workers who played a crucial role in this chapter of Alicante’s history, ensuring that their contributions are remembered and celebrated within the broader urban narrative.
With a long-standing background in documentary imagery, the project also charts a path that couples still photographs with moving images to create a more dynamic record of what the factory represented to its workers and to the city at large. The visual documentation is complemented by a structured research process that involved a group of nine neighbors who participated actively in interviews, field notes, and collaborative analysis. This participatory approach not only enriches the factual content but also democratizes historical interpretation, inviting diverse voices to weigh in on how the factory’s legacy should be understood today. The resulting photobook and audiovisual materials stand as a cumulative testament to community memory, offering a tangible, multi-layered perspective on Alicante’s industrial past and its ongoing resonance in contemporary life.
Ultimately, the project presents a vivid account of a significant yet complex period in the city’s development. It captures the rhythms of daily life within the factory environment, the social networks that emerged among workers, and the broader cultural and economic forces at play during the factory’s operation. By documenting these aspects through a nuanced combination of still photography, documentary narrative, and collaborative research, the work provides a lasting resource for residents, scholars, and visitors alike. It shows how memory can be organized and expressed through a thoughtful, collaborative process that honors those who contributed to this chapter of Alicante’s history while keeping the conversation open for future generations to build upon.