Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Hands and Hearts in Street Art: Carballo

According to the official website, Rexenera Fest is an initiative that "intends to gather the best urban artists to transform the town into an open air museum" with the three-fold aim of improving run-down areas in Carballo, providing a space for creative expression and attracting cultural tourism. You can see a map below with all the locations where you can find examples of street art by several artists. 



I think this is a very smart move. Street art is known to increase tourist population. It also tells a story about a culture without saying one word. The addition of these visual works of art to their plain cement walls and walkways really is an attraction and takes away from the bleakness and oppressiveness of the concrete buildings.

I hope you enjoy the sample I am presenting below, and I invite you to visit Carballo and see them for yourselves. Also, Rosalía Fernández Rial is publishing a series of poems inspired by some of the pieces. I am including two of them for your enjoyment: "Palabra e canción" and "Tango".




Isaac Mahow
Huyro
Sokram

Samia Singh


Carlos Fernández e Susana Llorente



Eva Facal

Palabra e canción

Ondean,
no mastro da túa guitarra,
os tons
das miñas cordas vocais.
Vas afinando
entre cóxegas táctiles
os matices
destes versos que recito
co vento a favor:
tanxe o poema 
e iza as velas.
Mentres a travesía
nos armonice
notas e sílabas,
o noso mar
será nado,
amor.
Navegaremos a existencia
en palabras
e canción;
despois de soar
evaporarémonos.

Miguel A. Calvo (O Mighelo)


Natalia Rak
Tango

Hoxe cansei do mundo.
Sempre xira coa mesma canción,
e todos ó seu ritmo.
Non somos máis que corcheas picadas
nun tango con présa e caducado.
Necesito parar para sentilo,
prolongar a miña corchea,
alterala,
cambiala de tonalidade.
Necesito parar para vivir,
para bailar cos teus ollos
para mirar se aínda hai estrelas.
Sinto que vou a contratempo
e que o tango se mofa de min,
pero non podo recuperar o compás.

And to finish our tour around town, we decided to follow the path along the Anllóns river which took us to "Muíño do Quinto".



It took us a while to find the mill, which looks like a regular house on the outside, but thanks to the neighbors who gave us directions, we could visit it and talk to Fina, who is the owner (alongside her family) of a mill which has been part of the family history for three generations already and will continue for one more at least since her son intends to take over the business. The smell is delightful, as is the hazy white cloud filling the room and dimming the light filtering through the windows. This mill  provides for many of the bakeries in the area, contributing to the popularity of the bread made in Carballo. Visit this link to read an interview with Generoso, owner of A Milagrosa bakery, where he explains more about the process of bread-making and the importance of the quality of corn.










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