Description:
“Paths of grass and rock” is a sound work that narrates a trail of voices, steps, silences, breaths, noises and dangers; a trail that traces the paths of transhumance in Europe, uniting the mountain landscapes of Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Romania and Albania, through a centuries-old practice that brings human, animal and vegetal beings into play in a pact of resistance, coexistence and mutual connection.
In “Paths of grass and rock” shared gestures resonate, such as the slow rhythm of the march, the blows of the sticks, the whistles and calls of the shepherds, the breathing of the herds and flocks, the barks of the dogs when they warn of the threatening presence of the wolf.
Luís Costa and Gianfranco Spitilli’s sound composition creates a soundscape of encounters between times and places, being constructed from in situ recordings made over the years in many places near and far. In this sense, it does not tell a linear story but rather immerses itself in the time of the seasons of transhumance, made up of departures and returns, losses and reunions, bodily memory and constant adaptation.
This sound work is part of a multimedia exhibition with the same title that is being exhibited in Senales (South Tyrol, Italy) and Castro Daire (Viseu Dão Lafões, Portugal), one that was curated by both Gianfranco Spitilli and Luís Costa and that includes texts, photo, video and sound materials organized and contextualized from a vast set of archives of the aforementioned countries, being prduced by Binaural Nodar, Bambun APS and PanSpeech and hosted by the Municipality of Castro Daire (Portugal) and the Municipality of Schnals / Senales (Italy)
This is an initiative that has the collaboration of the Creative Europe funded-project Tramontana Network, the Higher School of Art and Design of Caldas da Rainha (Portugal) and its research centre LiDA, the University of Aveiro (Portugal), the ID+ research centre, the University of Molise and its research centre Biocult, and the PRIN Wildebate project – Coexistence, bio-cultural friction and pastoralism in protected areas, the University of Teramo, the Central Institute for Catalogue and Documentation in Rome and the Digital Itineraries project, together with the Municipality of Castro Daire (Portugal) and the Municipality of Schnals / Senales (Italy). The project is also co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Portuguese General-Directorate for the Arts.