Opening participation frameworks
Relatoría da xornada do 11 de outubro.
Late in the afternoon of Thursday 11th of October, the first of the participative sessions of the concomitance that will take place around the legacy of the two irmáns García Naveira began. The day took place in the blue room of the Liceo de Betanzos, located in the same square where a column supports the two Indians, in recognition of the philanthropic work they carried out in the town.
Baixo o The title “Arte e Participación” (Art and Participation) calls on the public plus the associations involved in the participatory process to begin to imagine the commission which, after months of collective work, will be passed on to the selected artist.. The session was led by the journalist and actress Comba Campoy, who posed the question “What do I commission?” to the participants, a question that some of those present had not yet formulated, while others were already very clear. The aim of the conference was to determine the starting frameworks, as well as some of the thematic axes around which the project will revolve.
Taking up the initial question posed by Comba, the mediator of the project, Fran Quiroga introduced the audience to what the Concomitentes project consisted of, the previous experiences that had been carried out in France and other countries in past decades and the novelties that this edition presents in different parts of Spain.
Focusing on the town of Betanzos, he focused on the need to build a new story about the legacy of the Irmáns García Naveira or the explicit conflicts that exist in the town regarding their care. As well as he placed the methodology and the frameworks of participation with the intention that this process has a high level of community involvement in the production of a work of art that will expand the legacy of the Irmáns García Naveira.
The next person to take the floor was Pilar Cagiao, professor of History at the USC, who contextualised the peculiarities of the Galician historical reality within the broader migratory process towards America. She pointed out how, in addition to the drama that emigration entailed, it also entailed a very important return to the places of origin. The emigrant associations, such as the Betanzos Centre in Buenos Aires, financed social and educational infrastructures, which mitigated the high levels of illiteracy at the end of the 19th century. Finally, he brought to the fore a desire that would be taken up again throughout the debate, the intention of renewing the desires, the will and the interest of the citizens in the town's heritage.
Cristina Sánchez Carretero, researcher at CSIC, situated her intervention around the dynamics and processes of patrimonial conflict in which she has been participating as a professional. She started with two questions: Que prácticas sociais constitúen patrimonio? Who lives with heritage? Both touched on one of the problems present. With a clear methodological approach based on the experience in mediation processes between communities, administrations and technicians, they explained how the deepening of participation had more and more weight when establishing mechanisms of inclusion between all parties. He stressed the need to air any dissent that may arise in any process of conservation, intervention or action. The key lies in the need to set up mechanisms capable of accommodating conflicts and channelling them.
Eneas Bernal, coordinator of MUSAC's Lab 987, led the round of interventions, advocating the role of the artist not only as a mere materialiser of the commission. Artists are “professionals of sensitivity” who manage to redirect initial ideas and to do so in unexpected ways, in a way that is bold and capable of turning initial demands upside down.
Faced with the scepticism of part of the audience - as would later become evident in the debate - towards the figure of the contemporary artist, as someone solely confined to the circuit of museums, exhibitions and galleries; he presented a project in which a parallelism could be established with what was happening with concomitance.
Elías Rubio, a Castilian intellectual and writer, had long been obsessed with the idea of recompiling and archiving the land of his province: Burgos. It was not until he came into contact with Espacio Tangente, a contemporary art space, that they managed to create a project that surpassed the initial idea: the Mapa das Terras de Burgos (Map of the Lands of Burgos). A work that expanded to finish by recovering an ancient tree lost at the side of a church and planted with the same soil from different parts of the province that both the artists and Elías had treasured in the past.
Chegou o debate, e con el as opinións de veciñas e veciños que hasta ese momento no puideran amosar a súa opinión. One of the first questions was what the role of the artist would be, whether this figure would necessarily have to be an individual or whether there were other ways of finding a response. Or who would really participate in this process and what are the ways of involving the rest of the population. The associations involved in the process advocated trusting and being generous with the very process of co-creation of the work and all the dynamics that would be generated from this starting point to the final commission, appealing once again to the artist's capacity and understanding to channel the demands made.
As a conclusion to the session, late in the evening in the blue room, an idea remained present in the auditorium, the need to understand this concomitance as a process of placing the value of heritage in the face of obsolescence. With this idea still floating in the air and with a great desire to talk and get down to work, all the people present were encouraged to continue imagining future steps in the next session that will take place on Saturday 16th November.
Photographs by Oscar Gorriz
Report of 11 October.
On the afternoon of Friday 11 October, the first of the participative sessions of the concomitance began, which will work on the legacy of the García Naveira brothers. The day took place in the blue room of the Liceo de Betanzos, located in the same square where a column supports the two Indians, in recognition of the philanthropic work they carried out in the town.
Under the title “Art and Participation”, the neighbourhood and the associations involved in the participatory process were invited to begin to imagine the commission that, after months of collective work, will be transmitted to the selected artist. The session was led by the doctor in journalism and actress, Comba Campoy, who posed the question to the participants: “What commission? A question that some of those present had not yet asked themselves, while others were already very clear about it. The aim of the day was to determine the starting frameworks, as well as some of the thematic axes around which the project will revolve.
Returning to the initial question, the project's mediator, Fran Quiroga, presented to the attendees what the Concomitentes project consisted of, previous experiences that had been carried out in France and other countries in recent decades; and the novelties presented by this adaptation to the Spanish model. Focusing on the town of Betanzos, he highlighted the need to construct a new history of the legacy of the García Naveira brothers and the explicit conflicts that exist in the town around their care. He also placed the methodology and the frameworks of participation with the intention that this process will count on the involvement of the neighbours for the production of a work of art that will expand this common heritage.
The next speaker was Pilar Cagiao, professor of History at the USC, who contextualised the peculiarities of the Galician historical reality within the broader migratory process, looking towards America. She highlighted how, in contrast to the drama of emigration, it has also meant a very important return to the places of origin. Associations of emigrants, such as the Betanzos Centre in Buenos Aires, financed social and educational infrastructure, which mitigated the high levels of illiteracy at the end of the 19th century. Finally, he mentioned in his speech a theme that would be taken up again throughout the debate: the intention to renew the desires, wills and interest of the citizens in the heritage of the people.
Cristina Sánchez Carretero, researcher at the CSIC, situated her intervention around the dynamics and processes of property conflict in which she has been involved as a professional. She started with two questions: “What social practices constitute heritage?” and “Who looks after heritage?”, which touched closely on one of the conflicts present. With a clear methodological approach, based on experience in mediation processes between communities, administrations and technicians, she explained how the deepening of participation had more and more weight when it came to establishing mechanisms of inclusion between all the parties involved. He pointed out the need to avoid the differences that can occur in any conservation process, intervention or action. The key lies in the need to set up mechanisms capable of accommodating and channelling conflicts.
The round of interventions was closed by Eneas Bernal, coordinator of Lab 987 at MUSAC, who defended the role of the artist not only as a mere materialiser of the commission. Artists are “professionals of sensitivity” who manage to reorient initial ideas and do so in unexpected, risky ways, capable of turning initial demands upside down. Faced with the public's scepticism - as would soon become evident in the debate - towards the figure of the contemporary artist, - as someone linked only to the circuit of museums, exhibitions and galleries -, he presented a project in which a parallel could be established with what was happening with concomitance.
Elías Rubio, a Castilian intellectual and writer, had long been obsessed with the idea of compiling and archiving the land of his province: Burgos. It was not until he came into contact with Espacio Tangente, a contemporary art space, that he managed to articulate between the two parties a project that went beyond the initial idea: the Map of the Lands of Burgos. A work that expanded to end up recovering an old tree lost next to a church and that was planted with the same soil from different points of the province that both the artists and Elías had been treasuring in the past.
The debate arrived and with it came the opinions of neighbours who had not been able to give their opinion until then. One of the first questions was what the role of the artist would be, whether this figure must necessarily be expressed individually or whether there are more ways of finding an answer. Or who would actually participate in this process and what are the ways to involve the rest of the population. The associations involved in the process advocated trusting and being generous in the co-creation of the work and all the dynamics that would be generated from this starting point to the final commission, appealing again to the artist's capacity and good understanding of these demands.
At the end of the session, as the evening progressed in the blue room, an idea was present in the auditorium: the need to understand this concomitance as a process of valuing heritage in the face of objectification. With this idea still floating in the air and with the desire to talk and get down to work, all those present were invited to continue imagining future steps in the next session to be held on Saturday 16 November.
