Collective residencies / Citizen labs, landscape and sustainability / Olot
ADELA VÁZQUEZ
From Wednesday, 2 November 2022 to Friday, 11 November 2022
Bio
Master's degree in Social Work from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, BA in Art History and Graduate in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage. University professor in undergraduate and postgraduate courses at UNAM, the Autonomous University of Yucatán [UADY] and the University of Vigo. Regional coordinator in Mexico of the YUCUNET project, network of Master Programme in Contemporary Art and Cultural Management Yucatán-Cuba Erasmus+ EACEA/K2; conservator-restorer at the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico [INAH] and co-director of the International Congress of Socialisation of Heritage in the Rural Environment [SOPA] in Yucatan. She is part of the Teaching Innovation Group in Heritage Education of the UVigo and Fabcity Yucatán A.C. Co-founder of the Cultural Association Niquelarte and BIComún, in 2020 won the Cultural Diversity Fund of the Casal Català de Yucatán A.C. in Art Category. Co-author of "Petjades" and "A través das marxes. Entrelazando feminismos, ruralidades e común"s.
Project
I investigate how to open up the relationship between heritage and commons from the philosophy of praxis through the Participatory Action Research methodology, BIComún. As a migrant I have established a strong connection between the Yucatan Peninsula and the Iberian Peninsula as new ways of understanding the world and commons environments and it is time to explore other territories. In the residency I will work on the development of the "memograma" tool based on the technique of the "relatograma" to explore how a memograma can tell the story of life in common as a nexus between past, present and future. The context situated in Olot and in the laboratory will be social spaces for praxis.
A few days ago I left what has been my home for many years in Yucatán, Mexico, to return to Galicia, the place where I was born. Prior to this, during the summer, I received an invitation to participate in a residency programme at FaberLlull Olot, offering a glimmer of hope in this process of change. As soon as I made the decision to attend, I was ready to take flight.
One always feels welcome in Catalonia, thanks to infinite friends and their will to care and provide for others. So, when I arrived, I boarded the early morning bus to embark on unknown adventures brimming with this love.
As the TEISA bus made its winding way towards Olot, I shared a drawing by Remedios Varo through my social network, unaware that, at that very moment, we were passing through the town where she was born: Anglès. The connection struck a deep chord within me: I thought of how she had been exiled and I had emigrated to a Magical Mexico that will never cease to be present.
It really is the land of the Adelitas! And, as the song goes, "Who told you, baby? Adela told me", which El Consorcio already sang in these lands, another Adela was waiting for me in the reception of the Hotel Riu Fluvià, "Welcome!".
As the days went by, I noticed how life between volcanoes really is something else. Being in the presence of 11 imposing volcanoes that have all erupted, together with a beautiful coincidence: Clara and Adela were both born on the 20th of April, Hello love, how are you!
Olot holds a certain magic.
Between craters, labs and the local ratafía, we bid farewell to meet again...
Thank you for this immense opportunity.