- In its fourth edition in the Valencian Community, DAR has worked with twelve women visual artists from the Mancomunitat de La Vall d’Albaida.
- The cultural project DAR, of Tectónica Cultural, promotes the personal and professional development of women living in rural areas.
The director of the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània, José Luis Pérez Pont, presented the results of the fourth edition of the DAR (Dones Artistes Rurals) project in the Comunitat Valenciana, which has worked with twelve women artists from the Mancomunitat de La Vall d’Albaida, in the province of Valencia. In the presentation, the director of the CMCV was accompanied by Clara Albacete, creator and director of this initiative, as well as the participants in this edition.
During the meeting, the twelve creators, Paz Boïra, María Canet, Xus Francés, Lluci Juan, Imma López Mora, C., Georgina Mollà, Carol(ina) Otero, Lucía Peiró, Amparo Pinter, Nati Soriano, Celia Valls and Lía Vidal, shared their experience and presented the four preliminary projects they have collaboratively developed in the program.
“Women artists living in rural areas face more difficulties in the development of their work, so from the Consorci de Museus we promote the DAR project. Thus, we promote cultural diversity and support networks among rural women artists, structuring the territory through artistic creation, helping to prevent the depopulation of rural areas and accompanying and giving visibility to the creators. Our commitment translates into support for contemporary creation, protecting and vindicating especially groups and artists at risk of exclusion,” says the director of the Consorci de Museus and the CCCC, José Luis Pérez Pont.
Fourth edition, in La Vall d’Albaida
The DAR project is an initiative created in 2020, which began in 2021, that works with rural women artists to boost their personal and professional development, manage and promote their production, generate collaborative projects and encourage the creation of artistic collectives.
The first edition of DAR worked with fifteen artists from the Mancomunidad La Serranía, in the province of Valencia. In 2022 two new editions were launched, incorporating two mancomunidades from the provinces of Alicante and Castelló, L’Alcoià i El Comtat and Alto Palancia, respectively. This year, 2023, the project celebrates its fourth edition in the Valencian Community, working with creators from the Mancomunitat de La Vall d’Albaida. It has expanded its area of action to several cultural events and two other territories, Conca de Barberà and Terres de l’Ebre, with the support of the European funds Next Generation and the Diputación de Tarragona.
Four projects, twelve creators
During this fourth edition of DAR, the twelve creators of La Vall d’Albaida have worked collaboratively on four pre-projects, which were presented during the meeting.
Xus Francés, Carolina Otero and Amparo Pinter have developed the pre-project ‘Relats construïts: de la tradició a la contemporaneïtat’, which aims to connect contemporary art with the traditional crafts of the region of La Vall d’Albaida, through the creation of a series of works that will be shown in a traveling exhibition. In them, the artists of the DAR project will interpret and bring to the artistic field some of the most characteristic crafts of the traditional culture of the area, which have disappeared or are in imminent danger of extinction, creating works inspired by craftsmanship.
The proposal ‘Arrels i ales’, by María Canet, Georgina Mollà and Lucía Peiró, brings together the twelve artists participating in this edition of the DAR project in an exhibition of 12 photographs, each one created by one of the artists and with a different theme, always related to the traditional crafts and values of La Vall d’Albaida. The objective is to make the artists of the region visible, to generate networks among the population and to vindicate the value of the history, culture and customs of the region. The cultural management project includes a traveling exhibition through the 34 municipalities of La Vall d’Albaida, accompanied by digital content on the creation of the works.
Lluci Juan, Imma López and Nati Soriano sign ‘Filem la Vall’, a proposal for intervention in the public space that aims to connect tradition and contemporaneity in regional textile production through a participatory action open to citizens.
Finally, ‘Espai inclusiu de co-creació’ is the preliminary project developed by Lia Vidal, Paz Boira and Celia Valls consisting of a space for artistic co-creation for all disadvantaged groups, with the aim of promoting their integration through the practice of art in a common space for all, and respectful of the environment, while performing a very positive activity for their mental health.
The DAR project is supported by the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània and is included in the cartographies of good practices of the Ministry of Culture and the National Rural Network.
DAR is also included in the list of the best projects of culture in rural areas 2022 of the Observatory of Culture of the Fundación Contemporánea and the Associació d’Artistes Visuals de València, Alacant i Castelló awarded it one of its recognitions in 2022.
“The DAR project works on training for the professionalization of visual artists and also promotes the creation of associations and social participation. Our work makes sense when we see that in each edition an association has been created by the artists. For this reason, we are committed to the expansion of DAR in other autonomous communities, so that rural visual artists have opportunities for their professional development, the administrations get involved in the promotion of local talent, which consequently leads to their economic development,” says Clara Albacete, creator and director of this initiative of the Consorci de Museus.
More information: https://www.consorcimuseus.gva.es/convocatorias/convocatoria-projecte-dar-dones-artistes-rurals-mancomunitat-de-la-vall-dalbaida/
