Malaga explorer Cristóbal Benítez returns to Timbuktu a century and a half later

From this Thursday, August 28, the Economic Society of Friends of the Country hosts the exhibition 'The Dream of Timbuktu' by Irene López de Castro. The exhibition gathers more than three decades of work by the artist, who was born in Madrid into a family from Málaga, and is part of a tribute to the explorer from Alhaurín, Cristóbal Benítez, one of the few Europeans who reached the African city in the 19th century and returned to tell the tale.

The artist acknowledged the excitement of exhibiting in Málaga for the first time after having done so in cities such as Rome, Florence, or Milan: "My family is entirely from Málaga, but I had resisted exhibiting here and I am very excited. This is a fantastic place with a lot of history. I think it makes a lot of sense because the exhibition is about Timbuktu, which is also a historical and traveler's mecca, so for me, it's like coming home."

'The Dream of Timbuktu' features 32 oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and unpublished travel journals. Through these pieces, López de Castro showcases the light of the Sahel, its mud landscapes, and the women she met in Mali, a country she first visited in 1989 at the age of 21 while still studying Fine Arts in Madrid. "They told me that I would find nothing there, and for me, it was a gateway to an enormous source of inspiration," the artist recounted during the presentation.

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Her connection with Africa began then and has not stopped since that trip. The painter has dedicated nearly thirty solo exhibitions to Mali and the Niger River. "I feel very blessed and grateful, as if heaven and earth had joined to bring me here," said the proud Madrilenian.

The project is a historical tribute coinciding with the centenary of Cristóbal Benítez's death. Born in Alhaurín de la Torre in 1853, he was a diplomat, writer, and explorer. In 1880, he participated in the expedition of the German geologist Oskar Lenz, which took him to Timbuktu. Years later, he published his experience in 'My Journey through the Interior of Africa (1899)', a work that made him a reference for studies on West Africa.

The opening was attended by the ambassador of Mali in Spain, Abdrahamane Baby; the vice president of Culture of the Provincial Council, Manuel López Mestanza; the president of the Economic Society, José María Ruiz Povedano; and the writer Guillermo Busutil. All of them agreed on the importance of a proposal that combines artistic creation, memory, and cultural exchange.

The exhibition is complemented by the 'The Sahel, Yesterday and Today' sessions, which will be held from September 9 to 25 at the same venue. There will be conferences, presentations, and screenings about architecture, history, and the links between Spain and Mali. One of the events will be exclusively dedicated to Cristóbal Benítez on September 16 at 19:00 hours, with a talk by researcher Luis Temboury and the screening of the documentary 'The Dream of Timbuktu. The Journey of Cristóbal Benítez'.

In the words of its author, what she expects from visitors is simple: "I would like them to take away some of the love I feel for this place and to be embraced and welcomed by the gazes of my friends from the Sahel, who are represented." The exhibition will remain open until September 27 and can be visited from Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 hours and in the evenings, from 18:00 to 21:00 hours, Monday through Friday.