Fallow fields: Proyectos artísticos in Spanish rural territories

Abstract

In recent years, my artistic research has focused on themes related to rural space, memory and the passage of time. Projects such as "Quien bien quiere tarde olvida" (2022), "viajes" (2020) and "¿Dónde está Rosa?" (2020) sought to show the experience of living in places where traces of the past remain, and which face the daily threat of depopulation. These explorations, together with personal connections with my village in León, Destriana de la Valduerna, generated the motivation to one day go back and create an artistic project within my village, in collaboration with the community and the territory.

This thesis aims to investigate how existing projectos artísticos, such as the Fundación Cerezales (Cerezales del Condado, León), INLAND Campo Adentro (Asturias and Madrid), Nau Coclea (Camallera, Girona) and Kanpoko Bulegoa (Navarre pyrenees) seek to situate themselves in the rural territory to establish a dialogue with their communities, within the framework of "Empty Spain". These proyectos artísticos address rural challenges and criticize hegemonic structures. Through various initiatives, they carry out important work in exploring rural identity, traditions and ecological sustainability while maintaining responsible practices of community participation.

This thesis presents relevant research, reflections, and ideas that seek to contribute to rural revitalization by emphasizing the role of art in fostering dialogue and collaboration within communities, and that I plan to implement in the development of my own proyecto artístico in my village, Destriana de la Valduerna (León) in the near future.