A mediation in three acts 

Massa Salvatge

Duel, tribute and desire

In this text, we will review the path we have taken from the beginning of Structures of Affection to the present day.

Duel

The first open act of the mediation process for Affect Structures consisted of pausing to consider that it was not possible to move on to desire without also giving symbolic space to grief. Daily life and the everyday reality of neighbourhood spaces were immersed in physical reconstruction and daily necessities. It was not possible to consider moving forward without first taking a moment for grief and to relive all that one wished to be thankful for too. 

We fused freestyle and hip-hop workshops that were taking place in the youth space with “les albaes,” a traditional Valencian improvisation where one person whispers verses to another, who then sings them aloud. We proposed starting with vocal structures, where “les albaes” literally sustain the moment of thinking about what to say and what to make visible with the music. An entire group repeats the same structures until someone decides to continue with their verse. We took a tour of the spaces and people who had been key in the first few weeks and collaborated with an action by a resident, “la puerta de la memoria” (the door of memory), where neighbourhood stories from the initial moments of the catastrophe could be heard in a booth. The day concluded with a shared dinner in the square.

Tribute 

The second act emerges from a conversation, where some people say they have also done a lot of things right, where they support each other in having picked each other up and taken care of each other. “Literally, we have survived, which is already a lot”. This makes it clear that we need a symbolic tribute that also makes room in the struggle to recognise the merits, to celebrate the small achievements that are many but sometimes less visible. The day-to-day is full of struggles with the administration, with politics, with spaces... but there has not yet been time to celebrate what fills the banners at demonstrations: “only the people save the people”. Together with the artist Anaïs Florín, we proposed a banner workshop where we could draw these thoughts together and, from a practical point of view, have a moment to think about a demonstration that doesn't go towards the future but shows what has already happened, highlights it, recognises it. Parke is 40 years old and this act also becomes a way of recognising the path, showing how necessary it is and also a way of filling the desire to take care of it. Sometimes, you have to go backwards to be able to value what you already have and to claim it with more strength. Before leaving, we hung a giant banner that can be seen from the square, which included the lyrics of the first action in which we pay homage to all the volunteers. 

To make visible the structures that support childhood and families, we created structures with straw bales, jointly building new ways of inhabiting public space, even if just for a while. The straw was from rice grown in the Albufera, which has also been affected by the DANA, and it serves to connect us with something that is close by but seems like a distant reality. The day started out rainy, and this created a situation that surpassed the metaphor; adults held up cloths to protect the children, and amidst laughter and play, they created new shelters and spaces. It’s incredible how easy it is to work in a place where the usual is to take seconds to inform each other, organise, get what's needed, clean up, and move on. 

Photos of Tamara Sánchez

I wish 

The last event was a day called “Desiring a future for Parke Alcosa”. It was a day specially programmed for families and children but open to the neighbourhood and to all those interested in learning about the different programmes and spaces of the Koordinadora. The aim was to make visible everything that happens in the life of the neighbourhood and the work of all the volunteers, neighbours and technicians who support the needs and support spaces in a day of leisure and culture. We also wanted to turn the physical space into a space that was not only utilitarian but also a place of enjoyment and pleasure, proposing a day with different cultural proposals that are not usual in the neighbourhood. We started with the show “Desobediente” by the neighbouring theatre company A Tiro Hecho, we had a walk, a dance moment with the producer Guaricha who brought us some good anti-adultist tropical music and a hot pot of food to share from “Al paladar” a friendly project of conscious and committed food that already participated during the Dana in the neighbourhood on a voluntary basis. The afternoon ended with a dance workshop where we generated structures with our bodies and where we could experience how it is to physically unite and coordinate in something common, big and small. 

That afternoon, the transition to desire began from the act of sharing a space of enjoyment and care. A curtain made of the same fabric that had supported the structures on the rainy day asked: "What would make Parke more like a park?" and we began adding the first ideas, directly onto the fabric, to what will be the start of our artwork. This, for now, is our first structure of desires. 

Following this mediation process, we have been able to understand the neighbourhood's needs and are now looking for the person who will take on the artist role to address them. We will share more details soon.