RibeiroLandArt pursues the value of the forest, wine-growing and Baths heritage at the Denomination of Origin Ribeiro, presenting these wilderness areas as perfect spaces to art creation, education and health activities. RibeiroLandArt has been created by the artist Rebeca Ponte descendent of migrants grandparents Who moved to the city after the war. The summers of childhood in O Ribeiro marked her art. This project honours this heritage providing similar trasversal experiences to others
RibeiroLandArt is project created in 2020 by the artist Rebeca Ponte. She descendents of migrant grandparents who moved into the city after the civil war. She spent all her childhood summer in this area known as O Ribeiro in Galicia. O Ribeiro is one of the most ancient Wine Denomination of Origin in Spain dates from the Roman Empire. But O Ribeiro is much more, the region is characterized by a different microclimate, the excellent medicinal water sources and Baths( more than 8 health spaces and resorts) that relieve even the psoriasis, galicien octopus traditional cuisine, and the steep slopes and slate terraces around its three rivers: Miño, Avia and Arnoia that generates a vast botanical diversity. The smaller towns and villages present an winegrowing traditional architecture from the middle age and Baroque Historic Areas. But the last 30 years the villages and vineyars of the Avia Valley started to fall into the depopulation and land abandonment, even running the risk of loosing the socio-cultural identity.
The direct contact with the forest, the vineyards, the Baths during her childhood, marked Rebeca Ponte as a deep inspiration in her personal and artistic career along her life. In front of the risk of demise in O Ribeiro and the deep conviction that each individual action can change the world, she bought a big house in Berán de Arriba, at the Avia River Valley and started to restore it and develop RibeiroLandArt Project. Rebeca has a wide experience in cultural management, therapeutic arts in public hospitals, and events organization and she decided to put this knowledge and her own personal patrimony at the service of the land of her ancentors. The projects combines 1.enviromental education(winegrowing, biology, botanic, geology...)2.art formation workshops and therapeutic health retreats 3.art/music/literature/ events . The forest and the vineyards are revindicated as perfect spaces to create and share art as well as the most appropiate places to well-beei
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context
Our key resources are the forest and the vineyars and we extract the maximum value of them, specially the forest, through its preservation in time, in an alternative economy non based on the wood explotation or the tree felling. The protection and rational use of the forest, rivers and vineyards resources is part of our philosophy. Our Ribeiro Nature is not an inexhaustible source, it is necessary to preserve it, and in RibeiroLandArt we propose this also by enviromental education, beause "knowledge is power" for social change by raising awareness. For example in our endemic insects workshop local Biologist David Barra shows the insects in a healthy land and explain to the participants how to preserve them through tradicional old methods of cultivation in the vineyards rather than the used of chemical products .
More precisaly, in the small village of Berán we have a Common Forest Land that dates from the Romano-Germanic Law and it is administery by local resident neighbours from the middle age through the institution Monte Comunal de Berán. The project colaborates with them and many actions take place in this ancient forest, for example our RibeiroLandArt Festival. The fact that some of our actions are developed in the Common Forest Land has generated a greater involment by the local council regarding to the clearing away of the weeds in the paths and the streams borders that aid in the prevention of fires.
In each workshop and action of the project we look for optimize the usefulness of materials(the ones found in nature for example as the argument of art workshop) , also by reducing the waste generation(long term instrumental and containers as well as non-polluting paint not plastic). The foods of participants are supplied by the local restaurant with Km0 products enviroment respectful.Our workshops, events and retreats have a direct impact on the economic growth of locals(eco-wine sales incresings, menus, ruralrental houses, our house restoration works...)
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context
The main programme of the project (educational, artistic, and events) is developped almost in their entiretely at the forest and vineyards as a part of our philosophy. Our project considers that interacting with natural enviroments going ahead the workshops and formation in the forest and vineyards spaces, offers an unique high quality experience to the attenders. We believe in the importance that the human being returns to the direct contact to nature for balancing our minds and bodies much more these times of post-pandemy. Carrying the items and matherials for workshops through the forest paths and the steep slopes of the vineyards is not really functional but we think that it worths it. Also regarding to the renovation of the main building has been integrated into the singular traditional architectural aesthetic. The project The outdoors false celings have been restored in local wood. The masonery walls have been cleaned and painted using the tradicional and local way. Last year the project bought the adjoining house, abandoned and ruined for more than 40 years. To turn that area in garden spaces to art creation and education workshops (for the rainy or heatwave days), the rubble removel was carried out under supervision of an expert local stonmason in order to protect and preserve the ancient Stone walls. All this works were made with a Deep sense of compromise looking for the equilibrium between traditional architectural aesthetic and functionality for a good quality experience of participants. Apart from the experience into the forest, perceiving the traditional and historical spirit of the region through the stone houses( more than 300 hundred years old) is also a part of the proposal. Regarding to all the activities in the forest and through the forest paths, the project has a close relacionship with the Minor Local Entity to mantain clean the comun areas. The preservation of the architectural heritage is exemplary as part of the project.
Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context
The project proposals are easily accesible, the paths are cleared to be sure of having flat areas. The restoration works and design of the the garden spaces at the adjunt abandonned house this year have been made with an special machine to alleviate the entries for people with reduces mobility must access. All the activities are inclusive. The retreats and workshops are attended by cronicle patients.
Berán is a Minor Local Entity with less than 100 inhabitants, we collaborate with this entity as well as the Council of Leiro to wich Berán belongs.The Council of Leiro who sometimes has even provided the ancient school of berán for some courses that required projections, they provide also the basic sanitation at the entry of the Common Forest during the Festival in June. We work for local neighbourgs to participate in the proposals and events, two neighbourghs colabote carrying heavy artistic works to be show in exhibitions at the forest in their own farm tractors. In fact we frequently collaborate with the Common Forest of Berán institution to putin value also the Bath and medecine waters of Berán. We put the Santiago Way Assotiation of the villagein in contact to specialist, providing them with guest speakers for their events of the heritage promotion. We offer free of charge participation into the workshops to the neighbours and children. Women from the rural assotiation of the village participate in the art worshops of the RibeirolandArt Festival.
Ecology and culture rich in values were the urban and the rural just meeting and sharing.The events program try to improve the opportunities to the villagers who are in risk of social and cultural exclusion due to dissagregation, so the project has offered opera, classical concert, pop, poetry readings, nature writting readings, contemporary dance, 80 differents works of visual artist in exhibition, performance...while also including in the program the participation of tradicional pipes from the villages musicien.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary
Sustainability, inclusion and atention to the quality of the experience are interwined in this project. The compromise of mainting the enviroment in wich the activities get placed(forest and vineyards) it is woven with the subtance of the enviromental educational workshops(biology, geology, botanic) raising the environmental awarness and the wellbeing through the proposal of the forest and landscape as a cure to stress, a verified help to our inmuno system. Art creation is a fundamental part of this project, creation in nature to re-connect human beiings with the sense of trascendence where we are all one.
Chronicle trasplant patients, oncology ones, stressed urban visitors, postpandemic people affected, the habitants of the emptied rural space, children... find in RibeiroLandArt a meeting place to find oneself working from the individual to colective. Recovering the contact to nature, learning again the value of this heritage to love it and preserve it and at the same time preserving the socio-cultural identity. Creating synergies between the urban and the rural to grow in equal opportunities.
As a part of the project we organize the program called "Envíñate!" where the participants acompany for a whole day one wine producer who has combined the new universitary knowledge with the heritage winegrowing of his parents, we listen to his personal experience, the diffrente works of the eco vineyard, his worries and expectations, we walk together between the vines learning about integrative botanic, we do have a therapeutic art workshop in nature, we have together a km0 lunch and we taste the wine with the winemaker. A whole traversal experience.
Into the RibeiroLandArt Festival in June the programme included a talk on gender equality facilitated by two old woman(78 and 70 years old) who opened their middle age cellers to participants sharing with them their personal experience as winemakers women and their difficulties from the point of view of generation gap.
The real possible impact of the project has not jet been given due to the scope of the pandemic. The restrictions imposed make difficult to asses the impact, but the project has already work properly even under these limitations.
-Many people received knowledge about enviroment educational.
-Many people knew for the first time the wine works of Ribeiro smallholdings, putting this traditional wine production in value.
-Due to the efford and visitors to the project, the put in value of the architecture and the fact of the restoration of the main house and the adjcent abandon one for workshops gardens, other descendents realised about the value of the territory, and decided to invest and restore houses, 5 houses have been already started to been restore last year.
-Due to the success of the RibeiroLandArt festival in the Common Forest, the institution is working now in the design of the signposting for three trekking routes
-comunication.The different activities and the Festival have been echoed by very known Regional Media that have made them know amoung the urban people from Vigo and Ourense and surrounding villages. This put the territory in value presenting it as an atractive option to leisure as the same level as urban offer. This has already dignificate it.
-The small restaurant of the village increased in almost 200 menus last year thanks to our visitors.
-Due to our organization of "the route of the artistic winemakers of Ribeiro" the 10 cells participants increased many visitors and many sales.
-The clearing of paths and ways to access the forest aid into the preservation against fires.
-The neighbours could access to cultural proposals that they never attended before like opera or contemporary dance.
Please also explain the benefits that derived from their involvement.
We organized a meeting in 2020 to introduce different winemakers who have been promoting art expresions in their cells and vineyards. Together we decided to create the route"Viticultores con arte del Ribeiro" to joining together in a network and help them to facilitete the public's understanding of its work for years in the territory culture revitalization. In 2021 they were primary actors in the RibeirolandArt Festival with a bus route with artistic stops in their cellers(poetry, painting, music, gastronomy...).
The design of RibeiroLandArt festival was first worked together with the Common Forest Institution and the Minor Entity and Council, for the program we counted on with the proposal of the assosiation of the village for example the Traditional Pipes Musiciens as well a speaker from the Santiago Way Assotiation of the village.
For the design of certain subjects and workshops and programmes we count on the colaboration of the Ribeiro Regulatory Council as well as the Ribeiro Wine Official Route and the Museum of Wine of Galicia who has collaborated also in the financing of the festival.
With this synergies we all win, the village recovers thanks to the inspiration that RibeiroLandArt has projected in others, also making them believe in therir values and capabilities to offer especial profitable experiences, renting houses for the participants of workshops to stay, feeding them, renting kayaks, selling their wines, sharing their rural vital experience as a treasure.
The citizen are the main actors of this project based in provinding people the direct contact with nature and art creation in it. Only them can make this project real, the inhabitants of O Ribeiro as well as the urban people who choses our proposals as a re-conecting and enriching experience.
There is double impact the economical one but also one subtler and more profound that is the self-steem putting in value our territory sustainable way of life preserving the natural resouces.
All the extreme weather events are related to the defforestation. The project contributes to preserving forest as a source and a place to learn and create, a refuge to art sharing. The impact of pollution on our health is not negligible and RibeiroLandArt provides time in natural unpolluted spaces in activities for our well-being as art-therapy, chicún, yoga, voice and breathing exercises. Re-conecting with nature and forest provides to our bodies an experience of deep cleaning processes. We contribute to the community emotional and mental health that is one of the big challenges os this potpandemia time.
Even if it is an small geste all the foods for participants come from Km0 products.
We humbly work to offer equal art and culture opprtunities even if you are living a small village of the interior rural of Galicia
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RibeiroLandArt proposes the art education, well-beiing activities, therapeutics, events, concerts, music wine tasting....to be placed in the forest or the vineyards. The re-encaunter with nature and territory through art creation putting in value the therapeutic effects of this combination.
RibeiroLandArt is based on an environmental therapheutic art concept, not only to promote the beauty of the nature landscapes of O Ribeiro but engaging the public audience to realize about those factors that can directly impact negatively in nature and their own bodies and to encourage the population to take actions that would benefit the environment and theirselves.
Please provide clear documentation, communication of methodology and principles in this context.
Natural habitats and landscape is a source of richese beyond our territory reality. Art and therapeutic creation, music and dance events in the heart of the richesse of every habitat can help to put it in value at the same time that helps to raise the awarnees to environment and the principle challenges of this XXI Century.
Comunication and dialogue with citizens and civil sociaty as well as rural institutions is fundamental before starting to design the museology or educational program.
The methodolody of everything we do in based in the environmental therapeutic art. Besed on respect , horizontality and equity with others and with nature.
@López Pérez (Ponte)Rebeca, 2020
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