Framed Landscapes.

Way before I arrived in Olot, I had always been fond of Turner’s paintings. His troubled skies, and stealthy shards of light appealed to me for reasons I could barely articulate. Probably because his landscapes seemed to announce change, unpredictability, and the fleeting presence of beauty in one frame.

While I worked from my desk at Olot’s Riu Fluviu Hotel, I was lucky enough to be repeatedly surprised by views that both eased and unsettled me. Storming rain one second, golden skies the next. Beyond providing a good respite, from the words and ideas I was deeply engaged with in my writing my work, these views brought me back to Turner’s evolving potentialities. Perhaps I needed them to do as much, during troubled times. The conflict in the middle east an unavoidable topic at dinner, the necessity to process the very difficult realities around us very palpable. But as we sat there, lucky to enjoy lavish and delicious Catalan dinners, we bonded as a group, while bridging many differences.

I returned to my room every night, both renewed by these encounters, nourished, with my taste buds still ecstatic, and finding fresh energy to resume work that I had set out to do, knowing in the rooms next to mine, I had a continuum of humanity with whom I could join forces in the ether, as we all looked for the silver lining in these pivotal times.

Our group was quite heterogeneous; I met women of first nations who were community leaders, members of the European Parliament, Museum workers, and we all somehow found points of confluence. I hope we will keep each other as reference and I hope Faberllull will continue to foster such a productive and convivial environment.