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After a few years of virtual communication, part of HangarOH collective has been able to finally further continue working face to face. This time in a field work research at the coastal area of Cantabria (Spain). This shared process allowed the artist Bartaku and Seila Fernández Arconada to get their hands into artistic film work, experimenting with encounters and managed to get into a number of "artistic ingredients" to keep working collaboratively. Updates will come up soon.  Photos by HangarOH Collective's archive
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I am very pleased that today I will be speaker at the International Congress "Cracks and Provocations in the teaching and learning of the Arts". This congress has various international voices including Walter Mignolo, Catherine Walsh, Pedro Pablo Gómez among many interesting artists and researchers and its base is Perú. Sadly we couldn't meet in person but this virtual gathering has been a real learning process so far. Thank you INSEA for this invitation. For more information: www.inseacusco.org  Corriente - Encuentro Latinoamericano de Cine de No Ficción Dialogue with Seila Fernández Arconada about the work of Francis Alÿs "As part of the exhibition "Tracing Landscapes: The audiovisual work of Francis Alÿs", this Thursday, October 28 at 4:00 pm we will have a dialogue with Seila Fernandez Arconada, Spanish artist and multidisciplinary researcher whose practice focuses on the investigation of artistic methods, their limits and social approaches addressing contemporary ecosocial problems through situated dialogues of different kinds of knowledge. And in this open dialogue she will share a personal approach to the work of Alÿs. We remind you that the retrospective exhibition with 08 works by Francis Alÿs can be seen on our website until October 30 for free, online and worldwide." www.corrientenoficcion.com    Today I have been one of the speakers at the III International Congress of Rivers and Wetlands in which I have shared the process of the project "Estudio Flotante, cuando el río suena a Amazonas" in the pannel "Gestión y Manejo" of rivers. #cryh2021 More information about the congress: https://www.riosyhumedales.org/ Thanks to the organisers for this opportunity in which we have been able to discuss further what an art research based practice could offer to eco-social interdisciplinary projects related to rivers and in particular to the river Amazon.   " Yesterday we closed the workshop of Experimental Arts and Ruralities in the Ecomuseum of Cabuérniga with the artists Seila Fernandez Arconada and Laurita Siles. They showed us some of their projects and we were able to talk with them about participatory dynamics, ecosocial commitment and the power of art as a process based practice. They shared with the participant women from the Cabuérniga Valley how they link their work with different communities in other countries." --------- "Ayer cerramos el taller de Artes experimentales y Ruralidades en el Ecomuseo de Cabuérniga con las artistas Seila Fernandez Arconada y Laurita Siles. Nos mostraron algunos de sus proyectos y pudimos conversar con ellas sobre dinámicas participativas, compromiso ecosocial y la potencia del arte como proceso. Compartieron con las mujeres participantes del valle de Cabuérniga cómo vinculan su trabajo con diferentes comunidades de otros países." La Ortiga Colectiva      In October I will be part of the gathering "Rural Women, Culture and New Ruralities" in which rural women will be protagonists with their wisdom and actions locally. We will talk about cultures, arts, food sovereignty, intergenerational networks, peasant knowledge... Very pleased to be part of it. Thanks to Maria Montesino for this invitation, Registration: http://laortigacolectiva.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- En Octubre seré parte del encuentro "Mujeres Rurales, Cultura y Nuevas Ruralidades" en el que las mujeres rurales serán protagonistas desde sus sabidurías y haceres. Se hablará sobre culturas, artes, soberanía alimentaria, redes intergeneracionales, saberes campesinos... Muy contenta de formar part de este encuentro, gracias a María Montesino por la invitación. Inscripciones: http://laortigacolectiva.net   In these days I am taking part at the International Congress: XVIII FORO INTERNACIONAL sobre la EVALUACIÓN de la CALIDAD de la INVESTIGACIÓN y de la EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR (FECIES) where I present the research in the form of a talk titled as: "Artistic resilience. Dialogue of different kinds of knowledge from the collaborative practice. searching for an ecosocial balance.".
It has been a pleasure to work with my colleagues at the University of the Basque Country: Nieves Larroy Larroy, Ione Sagasti Alegría, Sandra González Donoso, Izaskun Alonso Saratxaga and Eneritz Amondarain Urrutia, thanks for such a challenging collaborative experience. For more information about FECIES: www.forofecies.com/  A multisensory experience navigating between the visible and invisible through the collective movement of bodies of water and their reflection in the city By Seila Fernández Arconada for Trimera 2021, thanks to the invitation of Didact Art Texto en Castellano a posteriori  Photos by Sara Nuñez and Alfredo Santos. This guided drift is a collective activity to create relationships from the practice of artistic walking, a journey from origin to mouth traveling through the metaphor of being more bodies of water reflected in the city. Starting from a dialogue of different kinds of knowledge, This drift raises relationships between scientific data, history and local histories, memories, etc. arising a dialogue of different kinds of knowledge based on multisensorial artistic strategies. The starting point of the activity was Plaza de las Estaciones in Santander, where this watery drift began, where participants could begin to travel from the present to the past and future of the city feeling more bodies of water. The first of the experiences was based on a soundscape. Each participant used their phone and headphones to receive a sound composition. The narrative was created to make us feel from another sensoriality, entering the historical gaze from the metaphor, since that place was underwater in the past. After this experience we walked in the direction of the ramp of Sotileza, where the sea was accessed in the past. These memories are still alive today with people who remember those events. There is an artistic intervention created by Concha García inspired by the novel Sotileza by Jose María Pereda published in 1885. This novel is set in the Santander of the mid-nineteenth century. One of the author's goals was to describe the life on land of the most humble seafaring families, at a time when their way of life was already disappearing. Thus, Seila proposed a reading of the novel from a different point of view, extracting all the phrases from the book with the word water in them. This literary drift offered another type of information closer to fluid forms, traditions and materialities. We continue meandering, walking in the imagined riverbed, sometimes more overflowing others more channeled. We entered the Water Park, we see containment dams, artificial waterfalls, we also see from height what was under the sea, what could happen in the future with climate change? Then a collective creation was developed to "become more rivers" imagining a watery landscape in this place adding to this landscape elements of what we consider “water”. At this moment we are a collective: a performative river, bodies are the protagonists and also our experiences and wisdoms, contributing desires, memories of water, thoughts to create this common river. This creation activity was very inspiring because everyone included their essence in different ways and each group, therefore, created something completely different. Now in the area of the Cabildo we experience the oldest area of Santander, where the heritage shows memories of fishermen, the most traditional profession of the city. However, it is in full decay and is palpable very clearly in the street. In this area, participants were invited to make a collective mapping of Alta Street through a conscious gaze: in silence, each participant walked with a leisurely pace trying to make the invisible visible, collecting moments and reflections that will pass into the collective memory. Already in Calvo Sotelo street we find an estuary of people, entering the main vein of the city that was an estuary called Cebedo. This estuary was represented in a fountain in front of the cathedral of Santander and it shows more closely that time travelling journey expanding relationships while showing more memories of the city. We continue walking, and we arrived at a place very close to the memory of all those present, the duck park in the middle of Paseo Pereda, where the absence of water and life led to raise big questions related to the importance of water as a natural resource. "If we want the absorption capacity and resilience of the land not to collapse, we must stop seeing natural resources as a condition for economic growth or as a simple object of development policies. And by the way we must accept that the human is realized in community, with and in function of other human beings, as an integral part of Nature, without pretending to dominate it." Towards the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature Reflections for action" Alberto Acosta The drift ended with the moment we flowed into the sea, metaphorically and literally speaking since all the way water was collected from all the bodies of water present in the activity to create our river. Thanks to all those present for their involvement, this summary shows a small essence of this artistic drift, however, sharing branched out as much as tributaries rivers can have, as much as each person is a body full of memories of water. Text by Seila Fernández Arconada --------------------------------------------- Texto en Castellano Serpenteando entre memorias del agua una experiencia multisensorial navegando entre lo visible e invisible por medio del movimiento colectivo de cuerpos de agua y su reflejo en la ciudad Por Seila Fernández Arconada para Trimera 2021, gracias a la invitación de Didact Art. Esta deriva guiada es una actividad colectiva para crear relaciones desde la práctica del caminar, una travesía de origen a desembocadura viajando a través de la metáfora de ser más cuerpos de agua reflejados en la ciudad. Partiendo de un diálogo de saberes, esta deriva plantea relaciones entre datos científicos, historia e historias locales, memorias, etc. en este caminar colectivo que sigue unas estratégias artísticas sensoriales se adentre a compartir en el transcurso planteado.
El punto de partida de la actividad fue la plaza de las estaciones en Santander, donde se inició esta deriva acuosa, donde las y los participantes podrían comenzar a viajar desde el presente al pasado y al futuro de la ciudad sintiéndonos más cuerpos de agua. La primera de las experiencias se basó en un paisaje sonoro. Cada participante utilizó su teléfono y auriculares para recibir una composición sonora en la que la narrativa buscaba hacer sentir desde otra sensorialidad, adentrándonos en la mirada histórica desde la metáfora, ya que ese lugar estaba bajo el agua en el pasado. Después de esta experiencia se caminó en dirección a la rampa de Sotileza, lugar donde se accedía al mar existiendo memoria viva en la actualidad de esos hechos. En esta calle se encuentra una intervención artística creada por Concha García inspirada en la novela Sotileza de Jose María Pereda publicada en 1885. Esta novela se desarrolla en el Santander marinero de mediados del s XIX. y uno de los objetivos del autor fue describir la vida en tierra de las familias marineras más humildes, en un momento en que su modo de vida ya estaba desapareciendo. Es así que Seila planteó una lectura de la novela desde un punto de vista diferente, extrayendo todas las frases del libro con la palabra agua en ellas. Esta deriva literaria ofreció otro tipo de información más cercana a formas fluidas, a costumbres y materialidades. Un extracto es: “La acertó con un troncho, y se fue al agua de cabeza. Y entonces se echó al agua y la sacó. Dimpués, la ponimos quilla arriba, y a golpes en la espalda, largó por la boca el agua que había embarcao. Salía el agua a borbotones por el boquerón de la trasera del muelle y regueros de espuma iban marcando el reciente nivel de la marea en el muro de la calzada de Cañadío…” Seguimos serpenteando,caminando en el cauce del río, a veces más desbordante otras más encauzado, nos adentramos en el Parque del Agua, vemos diques de contención, cascadas artificiales, también vemos desde altura lo que estuvo bajo el mar, ¿qué podría suceder en el futuro con el cambio climático? En este momento se desarrolló una creación colectiva para “ser más río” imaginando un paisaje acuoso en este lugar añadiendo al paisaje elementos de agua. En este momento somos un río conjunto, performativo, los cuerpos son los protagonistas y también nuestras experiencias y sabidurías, aportando deseos, memorias de agua, pensamientos para crear este río común. Esta actividad de creación fue muy inspiradora porque cada cual incluyó su esencia de formas diferentes y cada grupo, por tanto, creó algo completamente diferente. Ahora ya en la zona del Cabildo vivenciamos la zona más antigua de Santander, donde el patrimonio muestra memorias de pescadores, profesión más tradicional de la ciudad, sin embargo, en plena decadencia y se palpa muy claramente en la calle. En esta zona se invitó a las y los participantes a hacer un mapeo colectivo de la calle Alta a través de mirada consciente: en silencio, cada participante caminó con ritmo pausado intentando hacer visible lo invisible, recogiendo momentos y reflejos que pasarán a la memoria colectiva. Ya en la calle Calvo Sotelo nos encontramos con una ría de gente, adentrándonos en la vena principal de la ciudad que fue una ría llamada Cebedo. Esta ría, representada en una fuente frente a la catedral de Santander, muestra más de cerca ese viaje temporal ampliando relaciones y mostrando más memorias de la ciudad. Seguimos caminando, y llegamos a un lugar muy cercano a la memoria de todas las presentes, el parque de los patos en pleno paseo Pereda, donde la ausencia de agua y vida llevó a plantear grandes preguntas vinculadas a la importancia del agua como recurso natural “Si queremos que la capacidad de absorción y resiliencia de la tierra no colapse, debemos dejar de ver a los recursos naturales como una condición para el crecimiento económico o como simple objeto de las políticas de desarrollo. Y por cierto debemos aceptar que lo humano se realiza en comunidad, con y en función de otros seres humanos, como parte integrante de la Naturaleza, sin pretender dominarla.” Hacia la Declaración Universal de los Derechos de la Naturaleza Reflexiones para la acción” Alberto Acosta La deriva terminó con el momento en el que desembocamos en la mar, metafóricamente y literalmente hablando ya que durante todo el camino se recogió agua de todos los cuerpos de agua presentes en el camino para así crear nuestro río. Gracias a todas las presentes por su implicación, este resumen muestra una pequeña esencia de la deriva, sin embargo, el compartir se ramificó tanto como afluentes pueden tener los ríos, tanto como cada persona es un cuerpo lleno de memorias de agua. Seila Fernández Arconada This weekend I participate in the project Trímera organised by DidacArt, Espacio Alexandra and Createctura. My proposal for this artistic drift is titled as "Winding between water memories", a multisensory experience navigating between the visible and invisible through the collective movement of bodies of water and its reflection in the city of Santander (Spain). Thanks to DidacArt for inviting me to lead this collective endervour.  Over the weekend, one of the most wanted moments of the project took place. After so much work, ramifications of FloatingStudio research are gradually materializing. A very important part is this, the opera La Gioconda, (translated from the Italian La Jocunda), with music by Amilcare Ponchielli and libretto in Italian by Arrigo Boito that was presented in Milan in 1876. Without explaining the research in depth, I share that this was the opening opera of the Amazon Theater in Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon on January 7, 1897, in the middle of the rubber fever effervescence.
Its context is the main reason why I decided to recompose the lyrics of an excerpt from this opera. This process, which has many points of collaboration along the way, is born in the Amazon River. Its lyrics are a creation based on meetings, dialogues, activities and interviews conducted in the Peruvian Amazon and from the distance, with people from different points of the riverbed. Here you can see some images of the vocal recording with the soprano singer Vanessa Saenz Arconada, whom I thank on behalf of the project for her engagement and dedication to make this idea a reality. I also thank Aitor Sánchez Smith for his support in production and photography, Houari Raúl Lopez Aldana for his advice on vocal technique during recording and Javier Escudero for his sound prowess from Cubex recording studio. This opera is part of the project Estudio Flotante cuando el río suena a Amazonas and will be presented at the artistic-ritual meeting 'Cuando el río suena' in Seville (Spain) that takes place on July 27 and 28. For more information about the event and registration to be part of it at: (in Spanish) https://estudioflotante.art.blog/2021/07/05/desde-el-rio-amazonas-al-guadalquivir/ |
