In the 1970s, at the same time that the idea of the Internet was born and the first e-mail was sent, two events of vital importance took place in the northwest of the province of León. One was the prospecting for rare earths by a company contracted by the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute, which concluded that in the mountainous area of Ancares-Fabero-Cuenca de Vega de Espinareda-Pico del Rey-Noceda there are different concentrations of grey monazite (a mineral containing rare earths). The other event is the discovery, by a student of the ecologist teacher and writer from Bierzo Felisa Rodríguez, of an exceptional archaeological piece: an idol almost 3,000 years old linked to a corón (mining activity castro) which is now kept in the National Archaeological Museum.
Through a subterranean imaginary, the research proposes to access these open physical thresholds between basins and slopes, between the imagined and the lived. The project is based on Felisa Rodriguez's ecological pedagogical programme and the literary framework of speculative archaeology.
In this way, ‘Rare Mountains’ is built through collaborative tours and collective creation spaces. These include field trips to industrial ruins, the collection of real sounds as well as the creation of new ones using found materials and three-dimensional co-creation workshops.
Laura Tabarés' research culminates in the production of an audiovisual that will be presented at the end of her research residency at FCAYC and ILC and will subsequently be shown at festivals, exhibitions and contemporary art shows. The aim is to open up cross-border dialogues.
With the collaboration of:
