Rodrigo Cuevas

09/10/2023 – Contemporary Music Prize (Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport)

Performance artist, singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and committed folkloric agitator, Rodrigo Cuevas calls for a reappraisal of the values transmitted by Spanish folklore, particularly that of his Asturian homeland. Combining emblematic folk melodies with subtle electronica, clad in androgynous costumes, stockings and wooden stiletto shoes, he’s a rural cabaret diva creating deep-rooted art for a disconnected present, using humour, elegant eroticism and compelling storytelling. An academy trained musician he nonetheless claims to have learnt more about art from his neighbours in the small village where he lives (a location he keeps secret). His message is that a culture based on image and frivolity is an empty vessel that needs to reconnect with ancestral ways of life and interacting that are slowly dying. It’s a serious message deftly communicated through a compellingly entertaining vision.