Maleza

About

Maleza is an exhibition project conceived by Alterdúo, a collective made up of Arianna
Esposito and Marco Tondello, as part of the Projecte Pankhurst emerging curatorial project promoted by the Matas i Ramis Civic Centre in Horta (Barcelona).

From 17 February to 8 May 2022 it will be possible to visit the works of Itxaso Corral
Arrieta, Alba Garcia i Allué, Jessica Moroni and Paula Vicente Puiggròs, four ecofeminist artists who work on the relationship between women and nature. The project takes place in the exhibition space of the Sala Ignasi Vallhonesta and the outdoor courtyard of the Civic Centre intending to create an organic dialogue between the works that transcends architectural limits.

The title of the exhibition (from the Latin malítia: malícia, maldat) refers to any plant species considered to be undesirable that grows freely in cultivated areas or urban environments. Maleza aims to defend the ancestral knowledge linked to the land, and plants by reintroducing the care of the ecosystem and living beings as a feminist gesture. Just like those wild plants that arise, opening up a passage through the cracks of cement, new imaginaries will be proposed that generate openings in a patriarchal system that sees women and nature as equally exploited. Specimens of rue, calèndula, card and other species inhabit Jessica Moroni "Malas hierbas", an installation that embraces the biodiversity of Barcelona parks and gardens. The work studies the medicinal and culinary knowledge that has been part of popular wisdom for centuries and which, over time, has fallen into oblivion.

From the hand of Itxaso Corral Arrieta, in collaboration with La Caldera Les Corts, comes the project "Botanografías callejeras": a photographic cartography of urban herbs captured after a walk by the artist through the most hidden corners of the city. With this work, the artist reflects on new ways of interpreting the world that transcend anthropocentrism and hegemonic techno-scientific thinking.

These same street herbs also flourish in "Studio delle crepe" by Paula Vicente Puiggròs. The sculptures invite the spectator to become a witness to the slow growth of the leaves of sage officinalis and papaver somniferum, commonly known as "bad herbs", which represent the revolutionary force they exert through the slender obliviousness of the ground. Each one grows at its own pace, orchestrated towards the outside in search of light.

In the work "De consistència inestable", Alba García i Allué establishes a parallelism between the metamorphosis of a perforated stone and its oxidation with the constant transformation of things and living matter. Life always demands interaction, and this requires instability and adaptation, both in form and meaning.

Maleza is a changing exhibition, which mutates over time just like the living beings that make it up, and which therefore requires constant, attentive care. This slow process reconnects us with the natural and vital cycles that are antithetical to the frenetic pace of the society in which we live.

On the opening day, "Sintonitzacions", an installation designed by Paula Vicente Puiggròs, will be activated. Through the visualisation of biodata emitted by plants, the artist creates an interactive soundscape. With this work, she seeks to question our perception of nature by challenging human sovereignty over other species.

Throughout the exhibition there will be a workshop and a guided tour where the artists and the Alterdúo will talk about the project and propose an evocative reading of the works on display.