Serás Villamalur
Artistic and research residency
Website: www.ruta99.gva.es
Client: IVAM (Valencian Institute of Modern Art)
Location: Vilamalur (Castelló)
Date 2022
Team: Fent Estudi Coop. V. (creation), Casmon S.L + Hermanos Moliner Montoliu (production and assembly), Davinia Ros (structural calculation), Instalaciones Zorde S.L. (homologation)
Photography: Miguel Lorenzo, Fent Estudi Coop. V.
Publications: Levante EMV; ABC; Valencia Plaza; El Periódico de aquí
Document: download project details
The installation “Serás Villamalur” (You will be Villamalur) is part of the programme “Confluences. Artistic initiatives in the villages of Route 99”. This project involves artistic participation in rural environments as part of the IVAM’s outreach activities, and extends to 24 Valencian villages at risk of depopulation.
We took part in the Alt Millars phase in Villamalur – a village with barely 30 inhabitants nestling deep within the Sierra d’Espadán natural park, and where there have been no births for over 25 years.
Our piece took the form of a swing, simultaneously evoking childhood (here understood as both absence and symptom of depopulation) and the function of the pendulum (marking the passage of time), and in this way serving as a kind of memory aid, used bythe cuquillos (as the local inhabitants refer to themselves) in recounting the Villamalur that was, is and will be in the future.
Located above the village on an old threshing floor, it is thus firmly rooted in the signs of abandonment which are plain to see in this urban environment – a testament to bygone economic activity. In order for the swing to fulfil its function, it requires our presence and participation, whether we choose to swing facing views of the magnificent landscape or the village itself.
Further installations and activities in the context of “Confluences. Alt Millars” include: Luce(Espadilla), Bleda y Rosa (Torralba del Pinar), Carlos Izquierdo (Fuentes de Ayódar), Sandra Mar (Torrechiva) i Laura Palau (Vallat).
