TRANSVERSAL AESTHETICS / LIVING ON FIRE
Residencies of research and artistic production at Huarte and Barcelona
IDENSITAT + Centro Huarte /2024
IDENSITAT and CENTRO HUARTE announce an open call for submissions for two investigation and production projects within the Transversal Aesthetics / LIVING IN FIRE programme, one in the local context of the river Arga as it passes through Huarte, Villava and Burlada, and one in the local context of the river Besós as it passes through Barcelona - Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs. The projects will take place within hybrid residencies, exploring material or immaterial, temporal or atemporal, real or imaginary conditions, and the specific nature of these local contexts making use of processes which activate social space. Each residency will combine an on-site presence, and previous and subsequent remote work. From the call for proposals, were selected Héctor Gardez's project "Fire that cries: bodies and sowing by the river" for Huarte and Anaïs Florin's "Les mans del foc" for Barcelona.
ABOUT TRANSVERSAL AESTHETICS / LIVING ON FIRE
METHODOLOGY
PROJECTS
OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
HÉCTOR GARDEZ. Fuego que llora: cuerpxs y siembra junto al río.
The earth and the beings who inhabit it, how they dialogue with space, and how identities are constructed, stand at the starting point of this project. The artist uses multidisciplinary practices to generate a community artifact, which triggers an intergenerational dialogue, and formulates a reflection upon land and memory. In this project, living in fire also means living on the land. From the geographical distance of a burning volcanic land such as Tenerife, Héctor Gardez offers a contemporary reflection upon ruralities, traditions, and social structures which condition the realities of our bodies.
La experiencia compartida sobre el cultivo de cebolla en Huarte y otras localidades canarias inició una reflexión sobre cómo ciertos cultivos definen identidades, iconografías, costumbres y relatos en espacios rurales. A través de un trabajo de campo que incluyó entrevistas con hortelanos y artistas, y la exploración artística de la cebolla, se desarrolló un proyecto que invita a reflexionar sobre el alimento, su consumo, la iconografía rural y la transformación de los cuerpos en la relación contemporánea con la tierra.
BIO
Always linked to various artistic expressions, he studied Hispanic Philology at the University of La Laguna, and Filmmaking in Madrid and Cuba. Using audiovisual media as an artistic tool, he explores his connections with the living arts and cultural management. With several audiovisual artworks premiered in international circuits, he now focuses his work on videography, film on paper, or analogue formats. He is part of the Island Connect collaborative programme dedicated to artists from European islands, and is manager of the audiovisual area of the Ateneo de La Laguna. His investigation themes include the reflection upon identities, the queer in the rural world, the healing power of arts and their power as a tool for social activism, and the multidisciplinary and community work of artistic expression.
Instagram @ hector_ gardez
ANAÏS FLORÍN. Les mans del foc
The project Les Mans del Foc deals, using a multidisciplinary and situated approach, with the annual event of La Flama del Canigó. Specifically focuses upon its organisation in the zone formed by neighbourhoods in the metropolitan area around the mouth of the Besòs river, in particular Sant Adrià de Besòs, where they have received the itinerant flame since the year 2021. This event requires coordination among countless groups and individuals, so that the Flama del Canigó can light numerous bonfires every year on the Feast of Saint John, lending the flame a ubiquity and timelessness; one sole flame for a shared identity.
The project Les Mans del Foc focuses upon a ritualised collective practice, and upon the different social, identitarian, political, and affective dimensions activated by it.
*Image: Hoguera delante del Sindicat de Marçà (1977). Baltasar Vendrell
BIO
Anaïs Florin. She works mainly in the field of contextualised practices, paying special attention to the stories, memories, and struggles associated with territorial transformations. Her work, which orbits around the concept of the archive, uses the recent history of Valencia as a vehicle for reflecting upon the ideas of community, and of the city as a place of past, present, and future encounters.
She has received grants from the Cultura Resident - Mediación and Cossos Comunitats de Sabers Subalterns programmes of the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana, and has participated in events such as Poliniza Dos, Bien Urbain - art dans et avec l'espace public, la Biennal de Mislata Miquel Navarro - Premios de Arte Público, or the Manifesta Biennial Europe's Nomadic Biennial - Manifesta 15 Barcelona.
ABOUT TRANSVERSAL AESTHETICS
Transversal Aesthetics is a programme for investigation and experimentation on the intersection between art, mediation and social space; establishing a place of confluence between artistic practices as a vehicle for critical research; mediation activities as a vehicle for the production of content, interaction and learning transfer; and the urban context as a vehicle for connecting specific themes of work to a specific active social space relevant to these themes. Transversal Aesthetics takes shape in medium-sized urban contexts, understood as generators of social, cultural and environmental spaces at the boundary between rural and urban; a programme founded upon the cross-disciplinary dimension of art, in order to combine experiences and activities which impact upon unique elements on the basis of common themes and strategies shared among various participating agents. There have been five previous editions of the Transversal Aesthetics programme by Idensitat and Centro Huarte, each of them focusing on a specific theme: "Peripheral Ecosystems", "Ecosystems of Leisure", "Ecosystems of Fiction", and "Immunity ~ Community", and “In the Air”. This new edition will explore the idea of "Living In Fire" as a metaphorical element or common theme. making a connection between the local context of the Arga river (Huarte) and that of the river Besòs (Barcelona).
Idensitat and Centro Huarte are issuing a joint open call for submissions in order to select two artistic projects which specifically address the complexity of dealing with the concept of Living In Fire in contemporary thought.
THE KEY THEMES OF LIVING IN FIRE
This open call offers applicants the possibility of exploring and developing artistic projects which focus upon the concept of fire as a working theme. The concept of fire here is subject to multiple interpretations, in which the rivers Arga and Besòs contextualise the projects, which manifests fire both as an energetic element, and as a devastating force.
Fire evokes a wide range of emotions and meanings in the human experience. From its vital role in our daily survival to its transformative and destructive capacity in the symbolic realm, fire remains one of the most powerful and mysterious elements in nature. Its presence connects us to the primitive, wild, celebratory festival tradition, and evinces, in equal measure, our capacity to create and destroy.
Symbolically, fire is often seen as an agent of transformation, alluding to its ability to destroy the old in order that the new may grow. In alchemy, fire is a symbol of purification and the process of transmutation of matter.
In many cultures, fire represents the life force, passion and determination. In various mythologies, the deities associated with fire are often regarded as possessing great creative and destructive power. In many traditions and religious rites, fire is used as a means of purification and protection. From ancient sacred fire ceremonies to candles lit in religious rituals, fire is seen as an agent that cleanses and protects against negative energies.
Metaphorically, fire represents the light of wisdom that dispels the darkness of ignorance, becoming a symbol of enlightenment and knowledge. In the context of human relationships, fire can represent the ardour of love and emotional connection between people, but also anger, desire, or impulsive creative energy.
Revolution, change, destruction, violence, control, manipulation … Fire may take on various political implications, from its use as a symbol of change and resistance, to its role in destruction and manipulation.
Transversal Aesthetics / LIVING IN FIRE examines the tensions, paradoxes or connections generated by the concept FIRE, while also associating these concept with a river, or its urban configuration; following the course of the river Arga as it passes through the towns of Huarte, Villava and Burlada; or the mouth of the River Besòs as it flows into the Mediterranean, passing neighbourhoods and towns in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. In each area, a specific project will be activated providing a creative approach, and contributing a new perspective to resolve the tension generated within the key theme of “Living in Fire”.
We are interested in the multiple imaginaries of fire; as the essence of everyday life, as a symbolic element of transformation and purification, or as a potential agent of devastation and extermination. Fire needs air in order to exist, and together with air, water, and earth, it formed part of the four elements of the classical tradition, although in contemporary complexity, fire is considered to be the visible part of the process of transformation of combustible matter in its incandescent state. It remains present in celebrations, festivities and traditions, but also in natural and many human-induced conflagrations, such as wars, deliberate arson attacks, and other forms of planned destruction. In these times of climate change, policies related to fire have become central, with a general will of shaping a better future. We would like to open up the perspective of “Living in Fire”, to a political-poetic approach to build our relationship with the local environment, beyond (but also with) air, water, and earth.
WORKING LOCATIONS
PAMPLONA: The town of Huarte, where the Huarte Contemporary Art Centre is located, stands next to the towns of Burlada and Villava on the outskirts of Pamplona. The three localities follow the course of the river Arga, which has generated historical and cultural links between the three towns. In recent years, the boundaries between natural, rural and urban areas in these towns have been modified, due to urban spread and population growth, the conversion of allotment gardens into leisure spaces, and the flow and periodic overspills of the river. This geographical enclave, framed by the flow of the river in connection with its natural and urban ecosystems, defines the specific working context.
BARCELONA: The working context for this project is the area which comprises neighbourhoods in the metropolitan area near the mouth of the Besòs river (Trinitat Vella, Bon Pastor, Baró de Viver, La Sagrera, Sant Andreu). These neighbourhoods are located on the edge of the city in an area characterised by multiple connections to the north of the metropolitan zone. A densely populated area which has deepened its relationship with the river since its recovery as a natural space, becoming one of the main green areas of both the neighbourhoods and the metropole (Barcelona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Adrià de Besòs and Montcada i Reixac). In this case, the mouth of the Besós, as it touches upon the various urban enclaves, defines the working context in Barcelona.
METHODOLOGY
Transversal Aesthetics will follow three common strands; organising a temporary artistic residence, with the participation of an artist or a collective as creator and researcher within the context; setting up a local node involving various regional agents and associations; and organising a transfer of knowledge and learning related to other fields and subjects, in a suite of measures which we will denominate as Mediation Activities. These three strands may cross over, they may work in unison, or they may run in parallel, so that at least two of them will work together on the same project.
The local nodes may comprise a number of agents, organisations or individuals with an interest in participating in the project, or who are associated with the social, artistic or research aspects of the theme. These nodes will be formed prior to the development of the artistic project and/or mediation activities, and may vary in character, or may expand as time goes on. The artist or collective must propose a project involving the node, and must add their own agents to the network, who may become more or less involved, depending upon their role within the project’s framework. The project will be carried out in a triangular fashion, proposing activities or interventions in public space, open presentations, and production of results.
Selected projects must investigate and explore aspects relevant to the context in order to activate working processes which address the reference points of the thematic field; from imagining other possible ecosystems, to analysing existing ecosystems in order to address certain realities, or to construct fictions that generate other possible realities. The territorial node, and activities of mediation, will involve local collectives and individuals interested in working within the proposed thematic field. The selected projects will develop their work from this predefined local contexts and theme.
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