Sara Nadal-Melsió has just published Europe and the Wolf: Political Variations on a Musical Figure with Zone Books. The book revisits the Baroque musical concept of the “wolf”—the dissonant sound produced when trying to temper and harmonize an instrument—and brings this figure into the realm of contemporary aesthetic practices that engage with Europe’s enduring social and political contradictions.
In the European project, the “wolf” has often materialized in the figure of the foreigner or the immigrant: a perceived threat to the integrity of a supposedly “harmonious” community, to be brutally and violently excluded. Homo homini lupus: man is a wolf to man—this ancient phrase evokes the widespread fear and hatred of that which is strange, unknown, or beyond the conventions and boundaries of a community. The presentation includes a visit and activation of Núria Andorrà’s installation Esquellòrium, located in the foyer of Hall 1 at L’Auditori.
The book traces the figure of the “wolf” across music, visual art, and politics, revisiting the work and legacy—among others—of Carles Santos, Pere Portabella, Allora & Calzadilla, and Anri Sala.
About the author:
Sara Nadal-Melsió is a Catalan writer, curator, and professor based in New York. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, SOMA in Mexico City, and New York University. Her essays have appeared in academic journals, edited volumes, and museum catalogues. She is co-author of Alrededor de / Around, and editor of two special issues on cinema: The Invisible Tradition: Avant-Garde Catalan Cinema under Late Francoism and The Militant Image: Temporal Disturbances of the Political Imagination. She also co-curated a retrospective of Allora & Calzadilla’s work at the Fundació Tàpies in Barcelona, about which she wrote a book-length essay and edited a companion volume on the Puerto Rican crisis. With Eduardo Cadava, she published Politically Red with MIT Press. Her book Europe and the Wolf: Political Variations on a Musical Concept was recently published by Zone Books – Princeton University Press. She has served as Associate Director of the Whitney Independent Study Program until June 2, 2025.
Presented and moderated by:
Manuel Cirauqui, curator, writer, and editor specializing in contemporary art, design strategies, and experimental academic practice. He is currently the founding director of einaidea, a research and programming platform affiliated with EINA, University Centre for Design and Art of Barcelona, established in 2019. Since 2016, he has served as curator at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, where he has organized major exhibitions such as Art and Space, Henri Michaux. The Other Side, and Soto. The Fourth Dimension.
In collaboration with einaidea
