- Which voices are unheard behind a world-renowned tradition whose roots are not always acknowledged?
- And what happens when a culture is admired while the people who have handed it down through generations remain unseen?
- How can we bring together a nomadic people's history, a village's memories, and a story of a humble dress now turned into a fashion trend?
“The Dress of the Voice” is an original artistic and social research project by Art SyamHope born from a connection with the people, stories and traditions of Benarrabá, a village in Andalusia - and supported by the Rooral Creative Residency Rooral. At the heart of the research is the dress associated with flamenco, explored not simply as an aesthetic object, but especially as a meeting point for memory, identity, cultural heritage and a sense of belonging.
Through interviews, testimonies, observation and artistic experimentation, the project explores the relationship between art, Caló culture, flamenco and collective memory. Behind a dress, a word or a piece of music lie family stories, discrimination experiences, resistance and knowledge that continue to live on through the people who preserve and pass them down.
When words can make roots invisible
What do we name a tradition? And who has the right to identify with the chosen word?
During the research, an important issue emerged around the Spanish expression traje de flamenco, commonly used to refer to the women's dress associated with flamenco. For Caló people, this term can be offensive when it contributes to separating the dress and its tradition from their Caló roots, turning them into a folkloric or regional symbol that appears to belong to everyone, while the contribution of the Caló communities who have kept these traditions alive and passed them down risks becoming invisible.
It is not about declaring that an expression is necessarily offensive to everyone, nor about imposing a single way of naming things. Rather, it is about listening and understanding the historical and personal meaning that an object, such as a dress, can carry.
Recognising these roots does not mean to deny the other influences that have contributed to the flamenco development. Rather, it means ensuring that it's not at the expense of the people and communities it roots back to. This is why, in “El vestido de la voz” (The Dress of the Voice), the local Benarrabá people's contributions are essential to understanding flamenco history, expression forms and oral transmission.
Today, some progress has been made. For example, the Andalusian Flamenco Law recognises the role of the Caló people in the history of flamenco (Junta de Andalucía – Andalusian Flamenco Law). Also, two commemorative dates have been officially recognised: 8 April, International Roma Day (though it isn't officially recognised everywhere internationally) and 22 November, the Day of the Arrival of the Caló People in Andalusia.
However, nationally, daily language still includes expressions that seek to erase or avoid acknowledging Caló's significant contribution to our ethnographic heritage (art, music, cuisine, language, traditional craftsmanship and much more). The aim, however, is to keep moving towards a more inclusive coexistence and social recognition that truly acknowledges this value. convivenza più inclusiva e un riscatto sociale che riconosca questo valore.
Certainly, \\flamenco\\━ recognised by UNESCO as an \\Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity\\ since 2010 ━ would not exist without Caló's commitment. However, despite a painful legacy, they have continued to pass down and preserve this treasure, even without words, through \\ the memory of their own voice\\.
A livello istituzionale spagnolo viene riconosciuto oggi come una tradizione viva, trasmessa attraverso la pratica, l’oralità e le relazioni (Junta de Andalucía – Flamenco e patrimonio culturale immateriale).
“Sometimes people never get to know us. I would love to have the opportunity to show them that we are not all criminals.”
by Auxi – María Auxiliadora Nuñez Nuñez
Caló woman from Benarrabá and the first woman in her family to marry someone from outside the Caló community
Caló: language, identity and historical memory
The Art SyamHope social art research has also led to reflections on the historical memory of Caló communities and the repeated forms of repression inflicted on them in Spain until just a few years ago.
The notes gathered highlight, in particular, the period of Franco’s dictatorship, during which repressive and assimilationist policies targeted Roma people through surveillance, the criminalisation of aspects of their everyday lives, and the persecution of their traditions and economic activities. The notes also document the stigmatisation of Caló, which the authorities described as criminal slang, and the repression of cultural expressions, including those that are now part of flamenco.
This local memory forms part of a broader history of persecution and cultural loss. The Junta de Andalucía itself, in its account of the history of the Roma people in Andalusia, acknowledges that historical persecution has contributed to the loss of a significant part of their culture and language.
Speaking about Caló culture therefore means recognising its ethnographic heritage (art, language, cuisine, cultural practices…), much of which has also been embraced by Spanish culture itself. But it also means making space for the people who keep its traces alive through family relationships, stories, gestures and shared experiences.
Within the Genal Valley, Benarrabá offers a real-life example of positive coexistence with the Caló community. A key figure in this story is Manuel Núñez Romero (born in 1948), known as Manolete. In interviews with artist Sofia Candeo of Art SyamHope, he shares a remarkable piece of local history: thanks to the family tradition into which he and his brothers Luis and Simón Núñez were born, flamenco came to Benarrabá and gradually spread throughout the village.
The dress reflects this tension, too. Among the memories gathered in Benarrabá, Manolete recalls his grandmothers Ana and Rafaela wearing long, colourful skirts, decorative traditional combs and flowers in their hair every day. The elements now associated with the imagery of the flamenco dress were, in these memories, part of daily life and a way of dressing rooted in humility and rural life.
The testimony of Toñi Núñez, Manolete’s great granddaughter and a social expert, offers an additional perspective, highlighting the distinction between “coexistence” and “integration”, as well as the importance of carefully choosing the words and expressions we use and often take for granted in everyday life:
CO-EXIST = to live together, with mutual respect and on equal terms, each person retaining their own identity as it continues to evolve.
IN-TEGRATE = to include someone from outside, but only on the condition that, in order to be accepted, they must lose their own identity, become a “watered-down” version of themselves and prove their worth.
"El vestido de la voz" really comes as a wish to listen to and preserve Benarrabá and its people's history.
The Núñez family:
The flamenco as a shared heritage in Benarrabá
A deep part of the research is related to the Núñezs presence in the Benarrabá Flamenco history.
Through the interviews conducted by artist Sofia Candeo of Art SyamHope, Manolete emerges as a living piece of history, through whom family stories, migration, music and village life intertwine. Born in 1948 and brought to Benarrabá as a child, Manolete recalls his family’s journey, marked by war and persecution, which eventually led them to Benarrabá.
Here, following their family tradition, Manolete and his brothers Simón and Luis Núñez spread Flamenco singing and playing music, eventually founding the Peña Flamenca in the 1970s.
After Simón and Luis passed away, friends and local people who had shared moments of their lives with them wanted to keep the memory and artistic legacy of the two brothers alive. So, in 2013, with the family’s support, the “Simón y Luis Núñez” Flamenco and Cultural Association was founded. For years, it organised a festival featuring renowned artists such as Camarón de la Isla.
The memories shared by Carmen Núñez, Manolete’s daughter, highlight the deeply collective nature of that experience, in which families, friends and locals all contributed towards covering the costs of the performances.
Over time, the festival has become an established event in Benarrabá’s cultural life. Even today, it continues to be shaped by relationships, shared commitment and recognition of a tradition kept alive not only by members of the family or the Caló community, but also by all the friends and associations who recognise the value of flamenco tradition and its roots, as embodied by Luis and Simón Núñez.
Recognising this history means understanding that flamenco has not always been the performance we know today, shaped by commercialisation:
Flamenco carries an inner history of suffering, a struggle to endure and continue sharing its art coming from the heart through voice and rhythm. Its roots lie in values of humility, sharing and rural life, in the community and in generations which Flamenco brings together, through real people, their families and relationships built over time.
«I can't live without Flamenco»
During the artistic research for The Dress of the Voice, a question put to Manolete opened up a reflection on the essence of flamenco: what does it represent to him?
«I can't live without Flamenco» - Manolete (from the interview at Tere's Bar, Benarrabà)
He adds that flamenco comes from the diaphragm and the heart: you have to be born with it and feel it within you, because technique, although it can be learned, is not enough.
His daughter and poet Carmen describes an equally deep connection with flamenco. Even though she cannot sing, play an instrument or perform the characteristic flamenco handclapping rhythm, she has lived with this art at home since childhood, with her father Manolete and her uncle always singing, especially during celebrations and gatherings shared in the streets of the village. Today, she keeps these memories alive by sharing this passion with her children and writing poetry.
These testimonies bring to life a dimension of flamenco that art keeps alive through memory, listening and participation.
And we can learn that the cultural wisdom is not just in the past but keeps living in the body, breath, rhythm, and the memory of who has lived a tradition on their skin.
The hands that guard the memory:
The dressmakers' know-how and the Flamenco textile context
Alongside the testimonies connected to flamenco, the research also encountered the knowledge and expertise of dressmakers María Barranco García and Mónica Crişan.
Through their interviews, the research explored the textile context of the dress as we know it today. It also emerged that the dress is given different names depending on how it is cut, sewn and adorned, with contemporary styles increasingly shaped by fashion rather than tradition, often overlooking its Caló origins.
Every dress also tells a relationship between material and person, in which colours, patterns, volumes and shapes can express preferences, personality and moods. Choosing what to wear is not just about outward appearance, but also about how a person wishes to feel and present themselves to the world.
These skills require time and physical strength, too (just imagine how heavy a dress made from at least 14 metres of fabric can be!). Thanks to the people who keep them alive, manual and craft skills are passed down through the generations, allowing this flamenco performance tradition to be appreciated today for its visual beauty during “Las ferias” and “Romerías” (festivals eagerly awaited throughout the year and of great importance in Andalusia).
To create starting from the site: having the artist present on-site brings value
Artistic practice thus becomes a form of collective participation, using art to give voice to the present-day needs of the local area. Rather than arriving with a preconceived idea and treating the place as merely a backdrop, it means observing with curiosity, listening to people and using art to bring together the stories and history of Benarrabá.
Working with a community takes time, responsibility and sensitivity.
Artistic research can create opportunities for people to come together, but it must do so while respecting local identity and avoiding the transformation of culture into a commercial image intended solely for tourist consumption. For this reason, El vestido de la voz seeks, with humility and cariño, to help preserve the stories of the people of Benarrabá and give them a voice, so that their stories can be heard through art. It also seeks to bring the tradition of flamenco into the light, helping people understand its history, even when the beauty of a fashionable dress takes centre stage in the eyes of modern consumer culture, turning it into an aesthetic product that is increasingly distant from its humble origins.
This awareness is particularly important when working with cultural heritage shaped by discrimination and processes of erasure. The beauty of a tradition should never become a reason to forget the hardships endured by those who have kept it alive.
Art SyamHope: art, investigation and human connection
At Art SyamHope, artistic creation is understood as a human opportunity to explore stories, identities and social relationships through a sensitive, contemporary perspective. “El vestido de la voz” reflects this approach: researching before representing, listening before interpreting, and recognising the complexity of the cultures we encounter.
The creative process creates value and builds human connections. This approach can open up new possibilities for cultural projects, community initiatives, creative ventures and organisations that wish to tell their own story and express their identity beyond familiar narratives, without losing sight of the people and experiences that give them meaning.
Through artistic research and cultural collaboration, stories can find new forms of expression and be heard: an artwork, a participatory project, a publication or an experience that brings people together and preserves history while celebrating the present.
To recognise everyone's participation, and thanks to the support of Benarrabá Town Council, we gave a free copy to everyone who took part in the project and made additional copies available to other local residents at a symbolic price of €2. If you would also like to explore El vestido de la voz in greater depth, you can now do so through its official publication on Amazon (currently available in Spanish only): support “El vestido de la voz” and future Art SyamHope social projects.
The book brings together photographs from the interviews, paintings, natural materials and an in-depth artistic exploration of the social, historical and textile context from which the dress originates, as just one small part of the wider flamenco tradition.
You will discover the journey from flamenco’s origins in India, through the kathak dance tradition, to how and why flamenco, together with its dress, has become an internationally recognised symbol of Andalusia today, despite the repression suffered by the Caló people from whose culture it emerged.
It is striking to see how what is now a luxurious, festive dress – and one that can cause discomfort for those who have never been able to afford it – actually comes from humble roots. It is, instead, a product of resilience, born from the need to transform pain through art: flamenco.
Roots nourish the future
“El vestido de la voz” is an invitation to look more deeply into traditions: to celebrate their beauty without erasing their history, to share them without depriving communities of their voice, and to build narratives in which cultural diversity is recognised with dignity. Because a tradition is honoured not only by admiring its aesthetic, but also by recognising its roots, listening to the people who keep it alive and embracing it in the present.
Do you have a story which needs to be heard?
At Art SyamHope, we support creative processes that bring art, culture and human experience together.
If you have a cultural initiative, a local story or a project you would like to share through new forms of expression, we can explore together how to develop it through research, listening and artistic creation.
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