In this artwork, how is the History discussed?
In 1958 the first Congress of Asturian Societies took place.  Here it was proposed to the mayor of Gijón, Cecilio Olivier Sobera, the creation of a monument in El Musel or another place in the city that would pay tribute to the mothers of emigrants.  The proposal was accepted and the City Council, together with the Cuban consulate, initiated a Pro-Monument Commission. The Executive of this Commission consisted of the mayor of Gijón as president, the consuls of Cuba and Argentina and the president of the Asturian Center of Havana as members; and the director of the Office of America as secretary.  After some discussions, it was decided to call a contest open to Hispanic American artists for the realization of the sculpture.However, it was not until March 1964 that the jury was formed and the contest was announced, which would remain open until May.  The final selection was planned for June. The contest was communicated to the Asturian Centers and Asturian Societies through the magazine Mundo Asturiano, official organ of the World Federation of Asturian Societies and of the Office of America. The selection was extended pending the execution of the 3rd Congress of Asturian Societies, during which almost a hundred models and sketches that had been received for the contest were exhibited. Despite this, there were doubts as the project had not received funding and the location of the monument was not certain; to which was added the lack of written bases for the selection of the winner, which led to the project being postponed again.In 1967 the project was resumed, assigning Ramón Muriedas Mazorra the task of creating the work and the Cerro de Santa Catalina, at that time a military space that was expected to be recovered, as its home. The sketches of the work were presented during the 4th World Congress of Asturian Societies, but it received negative aesthetic opinions as "excessively modern".  The image then was expected to portray a traditional mother with typical Asturian outfit: long pleated skirt, headdress scarf, shawl and albarcas. In addition to Muriedas, the architects Fernando Castevany and Enrique Álvarez-Sala Morís, would be in charge of the project, which would be delayed again until in 1969 the Gijón city council decided to allocate its own funds to finalize the project. On September 2, the Permanent Commission approved the budget, which was ratified by the Plenary the next day.  Muriedas made a new sketch and it was decided to place the monument in the Rinconín, near the Rosario Acuña area, since the Cerro de Santa Catalina was still a military area.
albarcas Gijón Asturian Ramón Muriedas Mazorra