The _________ of the town, Makea Tu Vida

CONFLUÈNCIES. Artistic interventions in the towns of Route 99

Within the region of Rincón de Ademuz, the municipality of La Puebla de San Miguel is a high mountain town, the epicentre of the natural park with which it shares its name. The diversity of landscapes offered by its mountainous terrain and the shape of its splendid forests make this a destination for many visitors, who come here at weekends and during their holidays to explore its trails and paths. The town has a large square where the Council and the parish church of San Miguel Arcángel are located, which for years, the inhabitants have been calling for its urgent repair.

During our stay in La Puebla de San Miguel our work was based on observation and active listening, walking around the town and its surroundings, getting to know the spaces and places that emerged from the conversations that we had with some of the inhabitants of the town and from other nearby municipalities. Time and time again, these walks and accounts led us to pick up the thread of the previous intervention, which was carried out in the municipality of Sacañet. There, an enormous bench which was conceived as a sign and a resting place, poses the question of how and for whom do we revalue the resources of the actual surroundings, making evident the indisputable conflict between the romantic image and the reality of daily life for those who live in the town.

The intervention comes to life as a wooden bench located in the town square within the shadow of the church, with an inscription carved on it that declares «The _______ of the town». An incomplete message that is open to interpretation. A space that speaks of spaces which demand to be reinstated, perhaps with new uses, for daily enjoyment, for gatherings and celebrations. A bench in the square on which to come together.

You can download here more information about our intervention in La Puebla de San Miguel.

Makea tu Vida (València) is a collective that works in the space that exists between the worlds of design and ecology. Its practices are aimed at promoting open design, knowledge exchange and collective creativity, applied to re-use in different contexts and situations.