Laia Estruch is going to give voice to the Llanos fountains
The residents of Llanos choose the artist Laia Estruch to work on their desire to recover the village fountains.
After a mediation process that began in April 2022, the neighbourhood community of Llanos de Penagos (Cantabria) has chosen the proposal of the artist Laia Estruch to materialise the people's initial request.
The desire of the residents of Llanos was to recovering the community's relationship with its water heritage, the proximity of the inhabitants to the river, the uses and customs around the springs and laundries, and generating a social space for exchange and dialogue., The project is based on their interest in preserving the natural heritage that surrounds them.
After her first visit to the village, Laia says that she remembers the murmur of the water accompanying her walk through Llanos. Its trickle, its flow, its flow with a voice of its own. How to listen to the water of Llanos? To do this, Laia proposes an exercise in which she makes the three springs that this community wants to recover speak, sing and whistle. Based on this premise, the commission will lead to a sculptural and sonorous work linked to the vitality of the water as it flows through the village. Air and water are linked to give breath and make these fountains speak, sing, bringing together the town's neighbours in a process of listening to the river.
Artistic tour
With a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona, Laia works with the voice and the body as key elements that form the backbone of her research and artistic practice, which is situated between sculpture and action. The Catalan artist understands the voice as an extension of the body capable of synthesising questions related to language, speech, gender and social structures. Using spoken word, song, objects and publications, her projects analyse the emotional possibilities of the a cappella voice and the body without theatricalisation, opening up a space for reflection on the performative nature of language, sound recording and its oral archive.
He has presented his projects, among others, at Macba, Antoni Tàpies Foundation, Chapelle des the Beaux-Arts in Paris, CA2M, Picasso Museum, Botín Foundation, CentroCentro, Joan Miró Foundation, CGAC, ARCO Fair, La Panera Art Centre in Lleida, TBA21, Cerezales Antonino and Cinia Foundation, Azkuna Zentroa, TEA Tenerife and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
