In the face of unease, seeds of resilience

LleidaPerplexity. Unease. Indignation. These are some of the moods that frequently appear in our daily lives amidst an international landscape filled with uncertainty. Is the world falling apart? Answering this question may seem like a daunting task. However, there are many committed voices that give us a push to digest these and other doubts, and extend a hand to help us move forward.

Clara Peya's concerts are usually much more than a music recital. We were able to confirm this, once again, at the presentation of her latest album, Soliloquy, On January 16th at the Auditori de Lleida, the artist performed. This performance had been cancelled last October due to "the unstable situation and the demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people held throughout the country."

The composer from Palafrugell not only delivered an intimate evening of artistic quality and intensity, but also demonstrated her unequivocal social, human, and cultural commitment. The distress caused by the violence shaking the world and the outcry against the genocide in Palestine were some of the issues the artist addressed with the audience. Solitude was transformed into support. L'Auditori became a space for sharing concerns and reflections, a kind of collective therapy that provided us with the necessary seeds to face the reality we are experiencing.

Palestinian artist and researcher Areej Ashhab and writer, researcher, and activist Ailo Ribas are also two committed voices who have sown seeds of persistence by exploring the link between botany, politics, and resistance in occupied Palestine. The tree Ailanthus altisima“An invasive species introduced to Palestine between the 1960s and 1980s as part of the greenwashing efforts of the Zionist organization JNF,” was the root for her reflections on land and sustenance amidst colonial occupation.

The artist's book The fast-growing stinking escaped waste-loving wall-breaching self-cloning other-than-natural no-man's tree, Published in 2024, it is the fruit of research conducted in August 2022. The work exudes their love for the land and addresses the "ecological, political, and colonial implications of this species" through words, illustrations, and photography. If the tree is a "metaphor for environmental colonialism," the seeds are a metaphor for the resilience of the Palestinian people—a people who struggle to maintain life and their identity.

The publication will be presented on March 7 at the Arboretum as part of the activities surrounding the living exhibition. Migratory plantsThe exhibition, by Vicky Benítez and curated by Christian Alonso, will be open until June 21st. It "explores the ecological, historical, and political significance of these species, offering a critical and poetic perspective on the relationship between humans and plants, and on rethinking policies for managing and coexisting with biodiversity in a changing world."