I am part of a group of artists called 'Roots' and we all live in the Matarranya, a beautiful small county in Northeastern Spain. Please bear with me those of you who already knew that, I thought I'd go briefly through the details again for the artists that are newer to this blog.
We are a group of 26 and there are painters, sculptors, photographers, textil artists and mixted-media artists among us. We met last Wednesday in one of our (almost) monthly gatherings and the 'flags for peace' project was one of the issues on our agenda.
We met in a lovely place called 'Mas Marianets', a country house that also has space for exhibitions, workshops, etc. I felt like sharing some photos of our meeting with you, so you can be part of our gathering.
It's not always easy for 26 artists to commit themselves to one project, there are so many things that can get in the way: jobs, family, summer holidays, previous engagements... So, for the time being, only 10 of us have confirmed that we will fly our peace flags in September. We will hold a special meeting on the subject on 27 July and then I'll be back with more news and specific details.
Some of us will work with fabrics, others with paper and one sculptor is bent on creating an iron flag! Mary Jane, I hope we won't put your patience to the test!
The main thing that still has to be decided is whether we will fly our flags individually (I am really looking forward to watching an iron flag fly ;) or as a group. The idea would be to join all our individual creations in a larger compound and set it out in a public space, where it would remain till the weather - and some art-loving by-passers - takes its toll on it.
I like the idea of a very large 'flag' that would be the sum of ten different parts. Peace will bring them together and their togetherness will strengthen the idea of peace.
The other important thing still to be determined is where the flag/flags will go. There were many lovely suggestions on this: 1. On a by-road skirting a forest. 2. On the shore of a nearby lake. 3. On a famous local mountaintop! (I think this one won't do at all. Not if people have to walk up steep mountain trails to find out what the heck that distant huge banner of sorts is.) 4. In the main squares of the villages in the county. This one is my favourite. It would be like an itinerant exhibition of our flags and it would also be a great way for the Town Halls to get involved in the project.
I am sorry I cannot show you any actual flags yet but we'll get there. We intend to have them ready by the first week of September. And we're sure to get the local media's attention too, on the project and on this blog.
I hope you have enjoyed the tour around Mas Marianets. I wish we could all meet in a workshop there sometime!
