Oral tradition tells that the Spanish local desert areas were once

covered with dense forests through which squirrels could cross the

country from one end to the other.



 

That image of a desert

parched and cracked

of salt water,

that generates visions

of lagoons in the sun

and whirlwinds of dust

dancing on its shores.




There are no longer any forests,

nor any testimonies left ...



and the villages turn into ruins,

and ruins into rocks,

and the rocks into dust,

which nourishes

new life.


 

Forest, water, rocks.

EXHIBITIONS & MENTIONS

  • 2023 - FORMAT23 Open Call Longlisted (Derby, UK)

  • 11.2022 - Montes Negros’ Eden, Festival OFF Bratislava (Bratislava, SK)

  • 06-08.2022 - Climate Conscious Creativity (online, Without Form space, UK)

  • 04.2022 - Montes Negros’ Eden, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels, International conference on the Global Green New Deal (Brussels, BE)

  • 11.2021 - Montes Negros’ Eden, LCC / University of the Arts London (London, UK)

DUMMY BOOK

  • Montes Negros’ Eden, dummy self-published, 2021

PRESS

  • 2022 Montes Negros’ Eden, Salvaje Magazine N° 12 (ES)

  • 2022 Montes Negros’ Eden, Photograd Zine (UK)

  • 2021 Montes Negros’ Eden Featured, Click Magazine N° 79 (IT)

COLLECTIONS

  • University of the Arts London Collection, London (UK)

Classified as a demographic desert by UNESCO, Los Monegros desert is an arid area close to my hometown (Zaragoza, Spain). My father’s family comes from a village located on its border, and it became the landscape of my childhood. It is said that this territory was once covered by dense forests through which squirrels could cross the country from one end to the other. Nowadays, few land spots are left with vegetation after the desertification caused by intensive agriculture and deforestation.

Data of the area predicts temperature rises of up to 8ºC by 2100 and consequences such as reduced river flows, extraneous rainfall and significant risk of forest fires. Irrigation reservoirs have been built to artificially maintain agricultural activities flooding villages in the Aragón region. At the same time, the process of reforestation actions undertaken in the region does not seem sufficient, as the land gets closer to irreversible desertification.

‘Montes Negros’ Eden’ unveils the environmental story of Los Monegros and its relation with local myth, poetry and folklore, as well as social and political aspects. The exhibition and photobook combines photographs, documents, archives and text based on scientific research, articles and studies, enhanced by local folk tales and the testimony of the residents of the area. The project is the result of experimentation, collaboration with local museums, witness research, visual analysis and interpretation of human intervention on land. The many layers of the story link to the photographic techniques, including using orange filters to burn the digital image, black and white analogue photography, overexposed colour film and scanned collected herbs and plants.

In the meantime, 31.5% of Spanish territory is already affected by desertification. 80% of the country is at risk of becoming a desert within this century due to climate change. Over 75% of the Earth’s land area is degraded, and 90% could become degraded by 2050.