Photography exhibition
CARES/ FACES
september '06
paca busquets

In September, during the local "fiestas", Paca Busquets' show gave an extraordinary start to our exhibitions agenda. The show consisted of a series of BW portraits of the people in the village, taken from paca's point of view from behind the counter of her family's bar. The show became a meeting point for people to see their and other people's images, and sometimes tell the odd story. The pictures reflect paca's natural directness and sympathy.
It was the people's response that led us to extend the project to the publishing of a book of the photographs accompanied by stories, thus creating a great social portrait of the village. More on this subject later!



Here's a view of our very diverse public

BOSC/ FOREST
by irene esposito
05.10 - 18.10.06 at the gallery

this is an exhibition about what hides in the forest of over-information in which we live. it strikes me as very hard to see through all those halftruths we are fed daily, and yet it feels as impossible for me to let the mind fade into total numbness about the massacres taking place around the world right now. i have tried to put this across through the language of illustration. We organised the show as a two-phased event, which -based on a text distributed to the people. the second part involves a public debate to be held inhouse and also online via this blog.

Here's the text:

CAMOUFLAGED IN THE WOODS OF INFORMATION, ALL WARS ARE BUSINESS
Even governments recognise its status as a highly profitable industry and determine which weapons can be produced and used. Cluster bombs are on the edge of this curious "legallity". Although its effects and functioning are very well known (they are preprogrammed to follow temperature, and are loaded with tiny metal bits which penetrate and destroy thicknesses of up to 17cm, even a panzer's shell!) they are catalogued as "legal" by the war bureaucrats. They certainly are very profitable for them.
But this "profit" never reverts to the good of the land and lives it destroys. Waving the flag of revenge we stake it all for a piece of land, a name, a belief, for justice ignored. We are fed fear and hate and march on to the fight, barehanded or armed in high-tech style. The powerful and rich move us about their gameboards. THEY always win. We clean the mess afterwards.
By all the knowledge available regarding important environmental issues it is usual in this GAME to target energy plants and petrol reservoirs. One such place was missiled on the lebanese coast (7000 year old Byblo city,july 2006) flooding kilometers of beaches with oil, killing and devastating wildlife and tourism, one of the main resources of the little mediterranean country. Obviously, reducing a war to a TV spot or a headline has increased the distance between us and disaster. By no means is disaster alien to us, we happen to live around the same beautiful Mediterranean Sea, we share the roots of our cultures. It was in Byblos that the first books were made. It was phoenician and greek writing that together gave its origin to our own present writing. And above all, wherever destruction might take place (and its bound to be the poorest, most disgraced corners of this OUR planet) its our condition as living creatures to watch other fellow creatures being deprived of their existence for a couple of silver coins. It could be us, it could be anybody. It certainly will if we don't question, resist, speak up. Come out of the forest!
ie [serpmoixserp@yahoo.es]oct. 2006, fornalutx, balearic islands

Aqui esta el texto:

CAMUFLADAS EN EL BOSQUE DE LA INFORMACION, TODAS LAS GUERRAS SON NEGOCIO
Incluso los gobiernos les reconocen un estatus de industria altamente rentable y determinan que armas pueden producirse y utilizarse. Las bombas racimo se hallan en la frontera de esta"legalidad". A pesar de que sus efectos y funcionamiento son bien conocidos (estan preprogramadas para perseguir ciertas temperaturas y contienen miles de esquirlas de metal en su interior con una capcidad de penetracion de hasta 17 cm: pueden traspasar la cubierta de un panzer!) estan catalogadas como "legales" por los burocratas de la guerra. Por supuesto, son muy rentables para ellos.
Pero este "beneficio" nunca revierte en favor de los paises y las vidas que destruye.Haciendo ondear la bandera de la venganza, lo apostamos todo por un trozo de tierra, un nombre, una creencia. Nos alimentan con miedo y odio y asi marchamos a la guerra, con las manos vacias o pertrechados con armas de alta tecnologia. Los poderosos y ricos nos mueven como piezas en su tablero de juego. Ellos SIEMPRE ganan, nosotros limpiamos los destrozos.
A pesar de toda la informacion disponible referente a temas de medioambiente es habitual en este JUEGO dirigir ataques contra plantas de produccion de energia o reservas de petroleo. Un ataque de este tipo fue perpetrado contra la costa libanesa (Byblos,ciudad de 7000 anos, julio 2006) provocando una marea negra en kilometros de playas, devastando la vida animal y vegetal e inhabilitando el turismo, un recurso economico muy importante de este pais mediterraneo.
Obviamente, reduciendo una guerra a un spot de TV o un titular aumentamos la distancia entre nosotros y el desastre. Pero de ninguna manera ese desastre nos es ajeno. Vivimos a la orilla del mismo mar, compartimos nuestra herencia cultural.Fue en Byblos donde se hicieron los primeros libros. Fueron la escritura fenicia y la griega que originaron nuestra escritura actual. Y, por sobre todas las cosas,dondequiera que tenga lugar la destruccion (y suele ser en los mas pobres y desgraciados rincones de este NUESTRO planeta) nuestra condicion de seres vivientes que observan como otras seres son privados de su existencia por un par de monedas de plata deberia sacudirnos. Podriamos ser nosostros, podria ser cualquiera. Lo seremos ciertamente, si no cuestionamos, resistimos, elevamos la voz. Salgamos del bosque!
IE [serpmoixserp@yahoo.es]oct. 2006, fornalutx - illes balears

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november spawned a... poetry reading!

WITHOUT RINGS

01.11.06 at 20:00 pm

The reading by the poets pere colom (fornalutx), feliu roset (barcelona) and arthur rhodes (london) will include parts of their most recent work. the evening will be rounded up by a little buffet. anybody who can get here is very welcome! if you need more info, please e-mail us at serpmoixserp@yahoo.es.