First edition of the artistic residency program ‘LANAR_Open Laboratory of Rural Narratives ‘ at La Surera. This program aims to activate, from a reflective and sociological perspective, memory and artistic expression as tools for dialogue with the community of Almedíjar, fostering the collective construction of new narratives about the rural world and its transformative capacity to move towards a sustainable society. The project has been a beneficiary of grants aimed at expanding and diversifying cultural offerings in non-urban areas from the Generalitat Valenciana and funded through the Next Generation funds from the European Union.
Sensorial Walk , Deep listening. Sound Cartography. Almedijar, Spain. November 2023 . Pohotos by Esteban Rivera
We used the concept of Arké (“beginning” or “origin”) as a guide to immerse ourselves in the magical environment of Almedíjar, exploring its bodies of water as a single living organism in a metacommunity.
The communities of living organisms in these ecosystems reflect and provide information about the state of water over time. We somatically explored the interconnection of water bodies, their inhabitants, plants, and pollinators. Through deep listening, our body became a cartographic compass, revealing the secrets of cellular memory.
Through relational practices and participatory circles, we employed deep listening strategies and sonic cartographies to engage in dialogue with the ecosystem and its liquid intelligence. We discovered aquatic landscapes and learned to perceive water as a form of pedagogy. Walking became a form of learning as we explored repair maps, collective maps, and reflected through water and its confluences. We created maps, scores, and sound diagrams, drawing the courses of water and pollen from the body.
Deeply grateful to all those who made this event possible, infinite thanks for all the contributions to the fabric weaved in alliances with the spring water La Foquía in Almedijar. The name of Arabic origin means ‘on high,’ so we were able to elevate chants.
It was very special to listen to the waters of Foquía in intercommunication with our internal waters through sound, resonance, and the song received by the red rodeno stone, thus through our bodies, and instruments created intuitively as we walked. We drank olive leaf tea, honoring these lands of Olive trees, Cork oaks, and the animals living along their Pollen path.
Connecting with the Arkhe of the memory of Iberians, Sufis, Jews, and Templars, who shared these valleys. We remember in our hearts the Palestinian people and their right to freedom. Human rights and the rights of water bodies need our attention in these moments,
We encounter the wound that the human footprint creates in the creation of reservoirs and weirs, reflecting on the importance of rural communities in designing a water system management in harmony with the beings inhabiting the Pollen path and respecting the flow of water and the metacommunities of organisms living in it.
The workshop took place on Saturday, November 11, from 10 am to 2 pm, with a meeting point at La Surera. This workshop was designed for homogeneous groups starting from 11 years old.
La Surera is a collective project, managed since 2016 by the non-profit cooperative Canopia Coop. V. in Almedíjar, with the aim of promoting and developing local initiatives for rural and cultural revitalization around the following axes: artistic residencies and cultural events, school of knowledge, agricultural activities and processing of agri-food products, coworking and training space, citizen participation, and sustainable tourism
Web: https://lasurera.org/proyectos/laboratorio-abierta-de-narrativas-rurales/
