Saturday the 28th saw a homage ceremony in Almuñécar to Rowland Fade on the last day of the VI Encuentro Internacional de Artistas Plásticos in the Casa de la Cultura.
The homage took place at 19.30h in the exhibition hall where the said hall was renamed in his honour.
When Roland died in May this year, the Councillor for Culture declared that Almuñécar had been left orphaned by this loss.
Roland Fade was born on the 10th of May, 1939 in Norwich. He studied art at the Berkshire Art School in 1964. Only five years later he came to Almuñécar for the first time. In reality he never left Almuñécar, even now, because he has left an indelible mark on it.
Rowland was one of the first foreign residents to move up to the old town, even when it still had a reputation of being dodgy. Within a decade, Barrio San Miguel had become the residence of many foreign nationals and much more up market. Rowland, with that character of openness and humility got on with everybody, Spaniards and foreigners alike – he was so laid back. He is sorely missed.
(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)
Liam: I knew Rowland and Joyce for many years and know what a blow Abigail’s death was to them – she was one of a lost generation of foreign kids, brought up here in the 70s/80s who didn’t make it. I will gladly get your message through to the Cultural Department of the Almuñécar Town Hall, with your generous offer.
Martin.. Rowlands life and art was dedicated to Abigail and the angels that adorned his villa. Its all he ever thought about. I have about 10 works of his that I bought over the years. I was considering donating them to the casa del cultura gallery, where they could be appreciated more by others than my walls at home. But typically, its very difficult to get through to that place.
Liam: We all know about the loss of Abigail and there was also the loss of Joyce and close friend, Mike Dadd but the article was a homage to Rowland not a litany of his personal loses.
His life was a trail of tragedy after moving to Spain. I notice not one mention of the loss of his young daughter Abi. Rowland spent 3 years crying on my shoulder at my villa in La Herradura.