Ecocidios. Dionisio Cañas

In 1991 I bought a dry stone shelter in the countryside of La Mancha (in Tomelloso this type of construction is known as “bombo”). At that time I was living in New York and was in love with urban life, but I knew that sooner or later I would return to my homeland. The “bombo’s” surroundings were full of life: vineyards, melon trees, grain fields, almond and oak trees, partridges, crickets and the precious ladybugs. Three decades later, much of this fauna has disappeared or is on the verge of extinction. The almond trees are being cut down or burned and the countryside in general is filling up with all kinds of non-organic garbage.

Based on my personal experience in the rural environment of La Mancha, I have been collecting the empty sacks of these chemical products to create some collages. At the same time that I saw how some insects slowly disappeared, since the 90s of the last century I photographed the hard work of these farmers that I knew personally.

This exhibition is not, therefore, any kind of pamphlet denunciation, on the contrary, I believe that the tasks of the field, carried out in a responsible manner, are increasingly necessary for us to survive as a species, but it is not bad to note that we have gone from a natural way of intervening in crops to an artificial, chemical way, and that this change is also having beneficial effects for humanity, although sometimes also disastrous for wildlife, flora and for our health and that of the farmers themselves.

Dionisio Cañas

Coinciding with the exhibition Ecocidios, in the framework of ArtsLibris MACBA Barcelona, on Saturday, November 16 at 6 pm, in the Convent dels Àngels, there will be a dialogue between the author and Manuel Borja-Villel, former director of MNCARS.

ArtsLibris MACBA Barcelona 2024