The natural landscape of the Las Malezas estate (“El Niño de Mula”), Murcia, Spain, was the setting for the inaugural edition of “Ambit”, an international initiative developed by the Gabarron Foundation, which brought together a group of writers, artists, researchers, thinkers, naturalists, biologists and journalists on Saturday, February 26. A total of eight creators — Cristobal Gabarron, Carlos Aganzo, Manuela Salvado (biologist and contemporary dancer), Raúl de Tapia (biologist and writer), Joaquín Araujo (naturalist and farmer), Juan Jesús Yelo (sound artist), José Joaquín Aroca Amorós (saxophonist and improviser) and Damián Lajara (photographer)— created an improvised, performative piece where the artistic drive focused on the conservation of nature and, inevitably, the situation of armed conflict that the world is now experiencing. 

Art and blossoming in Mula (Spain) 

The beauty of blossoming was the inspirational framework for the artist Cristobal Gabarron in creating a large-format work (3 x 9 metres) titled “Flowers against bombs”. It was created live in the natural landscape of the Las Malezas estate (“El Niño de Mula”),as part of the inaugural edition of AMBIT. 


Creative drive, housed in the tension of the moment, the rain, the earth, the almond trees in flower, the sounds and the scents all combined with the improvised interventions through various artistic languages (dance, poetic recital, music, painting, sound art and words). These improvisations focused on highly current themes: the conservation of nature, natural and cultural heritage and, inevitably, the difficult situation of armed conflict that the world is now experiencing; a tension clearly expressed by the eight creators. 
 

Cristobal Gabarron depicted the sentiments of all the participating creators on canvas, offering this reflection on the surrounding environment: “This is my land, these are my beloved almond trees; the beautiful, delicate pearls of blossom that travel with me in my memories. Today, I’m seeking the Muses among them, so they might saturate me with colors, scents and emotions.”
 

Photo: José Luis Ros Caval

The body in movement and the grammar of the almond trees 

Alongside the dancer Manuela Salvado, whose performance revolved around the idea of “transmitting the beauty of flowering through movement”, taking inspiration “from the visual power of the enticing colors of flowers, which, aside from attracting pollinators, dazzle the observer”, the performance featured other poetic voices, such as the biologist and writer Raúl de Tapia. The lines he performed referenced the “grammar of the almond trees”, based on which he worked “following the concept that all the messages that arise from the almond trees through the shade of their blossom, their scent and their fruits are meant for an original recipient other than ourselves”, he explains.

Poetry and Writers

In this vein, the poet Carlos Aganzo defined as part of his verse “this connection to direct dialogue with nature… today we thought that there would be disruptions because of the rain and the mud; that maybe it would have been more beautiful to paint this magnificent canvas under a shining sun… yet the truly important occurrences of today were the rain, the mud and the blossoming; being trapped, absorbed and becoming one with the earth”.

For the naturalist, farmer and writer Joaquín Araujo, the aim of the event was “to share something that too many people are ready to forget; people who give up the bliss of what is freely available and essential… Poor are those who are unable to do what you are all looking at in this mural. Poor are those who are unable to transform their body into an entirely different flower, as Manuela [Salvado] has just done. Poor are those who refuse to let these time-bound tears of the almond trees join their own tears. Poor are those who do not remember what trees give us”.

Photo:José Luis Ros Caval

Music and sounds: central elements in the machinery of artistic drive 

​The musicologist Juan Jesús Yelo explained that sound action “is found, on the one hand, in the elements of nature and, on the other, in human beings and their cultural manifestations. The combination of the two at the performance site results in the visual, olfactory and acoustic spectacle that blossoming gifts us”.
 
In line with Yelo, the saxophonist and improviser José Joaquín Aroca Amorós based his melodic contribution on the following reflection: “The moment of blossoming is showtime, when a series of processes that remain hidden reach a destiny of splendor”. The happening was documented audiovisually by the photographer Damián Lajara, because, as he sees it, “the audiovisual connects and generates a symbiosis with other artistic languages”.
 
“Ambit” will evolve over two years in geographic enclaves across the five continents. This edition, curated by the museologist Juan García Sandoval, involved personalities from the world of culture and integrated heritage, as well as invitees of various nationalities, including the ambassador of Slovenia, Robert Krmelj, and the ambassador of India in Spain, Dinesh Patnaik, who announced the next edition of “Ambit”, which will take place on the 28th of April in the Visva-Bharti University in Shantiniketan, India.

 

Photo:José Luis Ros Caval

 More information: Ariana Gómez, ariana@gabarron.org 
 
View the video in YouTube:
https://youtu.be/MYw6rVBi_Uk

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Link to the photo gallery selection (Photos: The Gabarron Foundation, 2022):

Photo 1. Group photo among almond trees. From left to right: José Joaquín Aroca, Cris Gabarrón, Joaquín Araujo, Damián Lajara, Juan Jesús Yelo, Dinesh Patnaik, Cristóbal Gabarrón, Robert Krmelj, Carlos Aganzo, Manuela Salvado, Enrique Ujaldón, Juan García Sandoval y Raúl de Tapia.
Photo 16. Artists after finishing Ambit. From left to right: Raúl de Tapia, Manuela Salvado, Cristóbal Gabarrón, Joaquín Araujo, Carlos Aganzo y José Joaquín Aroca.