Public activity in León: 'Solar Narratives. Interweaving art, science and communities'.

The two days, which will take place on 3 and 4 November, will be used for the public presentation of the architect, María Auxiliadora Gálvez, who is in charge of the production of the project's work.

The project ‘Solar Narratives’ organises the public activity ‘Interweaving art, science and communities’ on Friday, 3 November, at the University of León and the Ateneo El Albéitar; and Saturday, 4 November, in Villavente de la Sobarriba.

The first day will focus on the public presentation of the artist and architect, María Auxiliadora Gálvez, who is in charge of the artistic production of the project. On the following day, a collective work will be developed to begin to build the structure of the artistic piece.

The mediator, Alfredo Escapa, will take part in the activities together with the group of participants. Both days have the collaboration of the University of León, the Area of Cultural Activities of the University of León, the Villavente Neighbourhood Council and the Town Council of Valdefresno.

‘Solar Narratives’ has been working since 2022 with the mediator, Alfredo Escapa, and ‘La Plataforma Ciudadana para la Defensa de la Sobarriba’ to activate an ecological transition that is just, sustainable and committed to the territory of this region of León, where the installation of 10,000 macro-solar plants is planned, threatening crops, pastures and forests in the local context.

Full programme for the two days

Day 1: Friday, 3 November

Round table: “Macro-renewables, science, population and art”.”

Round table to exchange experiences and to problematise the effects of renewable energy macrostructures on animals, plants and humans.

Location: Aula de Grados de la Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales de la Universidad de León (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of León)

Time: 10.00hrs

Participants:

Alfredo Escapa Presa. Mediator of the concomitance ‘Solar Narratives’. His lines of work are in the correlations established between creation, education and social transformations. The projects in which he is currently immersed are Autorretrato audiovisual, Apuntes para un presente compartido; in addition to launching the +D12 programme at MUSAC and working, since 2012, in the collective La rara troupe.

Daniela Canestrari. Lecturer at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of León. Her research interests are ethology and cooperative reproduction and social behaviour in corvids. She is one of the driving forces behind the Plataforma en defensa de la Sobarriba and is a member of the ‘Narrativas Solares’ group. 

Estrella Alfaro-Saiz. With a degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, she holds a PhD from the University of León, and specialises in the conservation of threatened flora. A lecturer and researcher at the University of León, she has been working since 2006 on various research projects associated with vegetation mapping, the conservation of plant species and Natura 2000 Network sites.

Mª Auxiliadora Gálvez.  Architect by the E.T.S.A.M. and Doctor in Architecture, she is also a landscape architect and teacher of the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education. Since 1998 she has been teaching at the San Pablo Ceu University in Madrid. In 2016 she founded the “Plataforma de Somática aplicada a la Arquitectura y el Paisaje”-PSAAP, where aspects of ecology are addressed from the experience of the body in art, and in architectural, urban and landscape design. 

Public presentation of the artist of ‘Solar Narratives’.’

The round table will trigger a dialogue about the process that has been undertaken to choose the artist, the format of the piece and what the next steps are.

Location: Exhibition Hall of the Ateneo El Albéitar of the University of León

Time: 18.30hrs

Participants: Artist, María Auxiliadora Gálvez; commissioners Marta Alaiz, Carolina Bartolomé, Daniela Canestrari, Marina Castro, Fran de la Calzada, Carlos Padilla, Aurora Panizo; and mediator Alfredo Escapa.

Day 2: Saturday, 4 November

Collective activity of collective construction of the artistic work

Hacendera (collective work that is done in order to make something for the common good) to begin to build the structure of the living sebe that the piece of the concomitance Solar Narratives will have.

Location: Villavente de la Sobarriba, exit on foot from the bus stop.

Time: 10.00hrs

In November, following the popular wisdom that says “in November any stick catches fire”, and under the expert supervision of the local maintainers (from Villavente de la Sobarriba itself) Justo Rodríguez and Maruja Benavides; the members of the Plataforma en Defensa de la Sobarriba, the mediator, Mª Auxiliadora Gálvez and those who wish to come and learn this ancestral fencing technique, work will begin to build part of the structure for the architectural piece that will be finished in the spring of 2024.

And as it's sure to be cold, we'll be laying out the parva (a vasin of white marc with a sultana or churro) to make learning and temperatures more enjoyable.