ROOTS AND REVISIONS
Curation project (exhibitions and symposiums). 2016-19
Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades | Fundación Pedro Cano

Roots and Revisions – a fieldwork programme

Roots and Revisions developed a fieldwork research programme across different territories of Spain, exploring the physical properties and cultural memory of esparto – a hardy species of grass used as both a means of subsistence and in industry – and its presence and absence is felt physically and emotionally in the landscapes of southern Spain.

Following three years of research activity in southern and northern Spain, the project brought together art, culture, landscape and history – weaving together conversations and making connections through esparto. The project explored how historical narratives of esparto production influence the creative potential of the material in contemporary art practice. An innovative public programme associated with the project explored the material, cultural and historical qualities of esparto through a series of talks, discussions and workshops.

Esparto: new ground was a touring exhibition of contemporary artworks that reimagined, reconsidered and revitalized the material and poetic qualities of esparto. A museum display of artefacts made from esparto loaned from several organisations and individuals also provided a unique opportunity to learn about the history of the material and see how it is rethought and revived in contemporary culture. The exhibitions included painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, film, and a display of esparto artefacts. A significant number of works on display use handmade paper produced in Barcelona, at Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades, made from esparto grass harvested in Murcia. The exhibition also features an artist film made on location in the esparto fields near Blanca, that traces the landscape from sunrise to sunset.

Roots and Revisions was developed through the Temporal School of Experimental Geography (TSOEG.org) and connects with several previous research projects dealing with fieldwork. The project brought together nearly 400 people to make meaningful connections across all of its activities.

Summary:
Curation project staying at several different sites / research project with exhibitions, talks and publications / public programmes / cultural land-use programme

Artists:
Lorena Álvarez
Elena Azzedin
Pedro Cano
Yamandú Canosa
Luce Choules
Ramon Enrich
Rob and Harriet Fraser
Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar
Laura Harrington
Abraham Hurtado
Sigrid Holmwood
E. Jackson
Lina Sofia Lundin
Anna Macleod
Melissa Marks
Pedro Ortuño
Victória Rabal
Corinne Silva
Simone Simons
Noemí Yepes

Project partners:
Victória Rabal, Museum Director and Artist, Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades, Barcelona, Spain | Pedro Cano, Artist, Blanca, Murcia, Spain | Mari Carmen Sánchez-Rojas, Director, Fundación Pedro Cano, Blanca, Murcia, Spain | Pascal Janin Researcher and author of ‘Plan de salvaguarda de la cultura del esparto’, and Organiser of Encuentro Nacional sobre la Cultura del Esparto, Cieza, Murcia, Spain | Francisco Campoy, Museo del Esparto de Archena, Murcia, Spain | María Cano, Atalaya Club, Museo del Esparto (Cieza), Murcia, Spain | Pedro Costa Morata, Political Scientist | Dr. Sonia Trigueros, Senior Research Associate (Nanotechnology), Oxford University, UK | Sisco, Microtomista (a mano alzada), Barcelona, Spain | Bi-Anominous, Collective.

Exhibitions:
Co-produced by Luce Choules and E. Jackson

Keywords:
Environmental Art, Curated Landscapes, Cultural Tourism, Physical/Human Geography, Ecology, Survey, Fieldwork.

      

EXHIBITIONS INFO

Group show Esparto: new ground | 17.06.18 – 31.08.18
Works on esparto paper: Lorena Álvarez, Pedro Cano, Yamandú Canosa, Luce Choules, Ramon Enrich, Rob and Harriet Fraser, Laura Harrington, Sigrid Holmwood, E. Jackson, Anna Macleod, Melissa Marks, Pedro Ortuño, and Corinne Silva.
Collaborative esparto paper installation by Luce Choules and E. Jackson. Esparto film by Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar Romero; esparto sculptures by Noemí Yepes, and book works by E. Jackson. Also features: research, archive material, maps and esparto artefacts.
Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades, Pau Casals 10, 08786 Capellades, Barcelona, Spain.

Group show Esparto: new ground | 02.02.19 – 17.03.19
Works on esparto paper: Lorena Álvarez, Pedro Cano, Yamandú Canosa, Luce Choules, Ramon Enrich, Rob and Harriet Fraser, Laura Harrington, Sigrid Holmwood, Abraham Hurtado, E. Jackson, Anna Macleod, Melissa Marks, Pedro Ortuño, Victória Rabal and Corinne Silva.
Collaborative esparto paper installation by Luce Choules and E. Jackson. Esparto film by Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar Romero; esparto sculptures by Noemí Yepes and Simone Simons, esparto installation by Lina Sofia Lundin, photographic installation by Luce Choules, book works by E. Jackson. Also features: research, archive material, maps and esparto artefacts.
Fundación Pedro Cano, Avenida del Río Segura S/N, 30540 Blanca, Murcia, Spain.

WORKS

ONE THOUSAND IN ONE
Sculpture (handmade esparto paper). 2018

One Thousand in One is an object made from a cutting action performed one thousand times. Created for an exhibition at the Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades (Barcelona), the form resembles a bundle of esparto grass – the same material as the paper it was made from. The esparto industry was part of a subsistence economy operating in remote areas of southern Spain and across north Africa, and its presence and absence is felt physically and emotionally across the cultural landscape of Spain today. Held together in the object, the strands mesh once-living materials with performance and production processes. The work explores roots, resilience and repetition.

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Image shows bookwork Work Field
Collaboration with E. Jackson, 2017