San Sebastián (EFE).- Cristina Iglesias emptied the lighthouse on the island of Santa Clara in San Sebastián and turned that space into the sculpture “Hondalea”. Two years after its inauguration, the artist from San Sebastián has published a book that collects the work in images and reflections on the marine environment and the meaning of art.
“Hondalea”, Cristina Iglesias
Published by Hatje Cantz “Cristina Iglesias – Hondalea” collects through its more than 180 pages photos and texts from experts who participated in the symposium that was held between June 3 and 4, 2021, days after the opening of the sculpture.
Directed by the international adviser James Lingwood, who is also the book’s editor, the publication includes texts by experts such as Lingwood himself, the deputy director of the Plentzia maritime station, Manuel Soto, the marine biologist and current director of Natural Heritage and Climate Change of the Basque Government, Adolfo Uriarte, the geologist Asier Hilario, and the biologist expert in oceanography Carlos Duarte.
From the field of art, the writer and editor Lisa Le Feuvre, the director of the Fundacao Calouste Gubelkian in Lisbon and former director of Tate Britain, Penelope Curtis, and the president of the Department of Art at UCLA (Los Angeles), Russell Fergusson.
The poet and writer Beñat Sarasola also intervenes, with whom Iglesias held a dialogue on the “concept of depth and horizon” and with whom he explored “how, from the Basque language, one could find the word that was deep enough to express the marine abyss and was open to interpretations”, Iglesias pointed out in the presentation of the book.
Santa Clara Island
The event, in which the mayor of San Sebastián, Eneko Goia, also participated, took place in a room of the San Sebastián Aquarium from which you can see the island of Santa Clara, the same space where the project was presented in 2017 .
“The book aims to spread ‘Hondalea’ for those who have not yet come”, the artist has indicated.
The basis is the “guide tour”, which Iglesias usually films every time a work is finished, and which on this occasion was carried out with the director Asier Altuna, who later collected the complex process in the documentary “Hondalea: Abysmo marino”. construction of the sculpture.
The audiovisual piece begins with the trip that Iglesias and Altuna made on the boat that led them to “discover the island, enter the house of the lighthouse and face the experience of the work with its sound and with its way of absorbing”, has remembered today.
This material is combined with the contributions of experts in marine conservation and authors who have reflected “on what is a public piece that aims to open the minds of any viewer who approaches other worlds, even within oneself.” he has pointed out.
Iglesias has been satisfied because “a book is always memory” and has assured that it will be presented on April 6 in Paris and later in London, New York and Los Angeles, so it will be a “business card for more people Come visit the work and Donostia”.
Holy Week visits
Goia has highlighted the good reception of “Hondalea” and has announced that this year, for the first time, it will be open to visits at Easter, between April 1 and 16, since until now it was only open to the public during the months June, July, August and September.
“We are going to see how it works”, has indicated the mayor of San Sebastian, who has remarked the difficulty that it would mean to extend the season to the winter months due to the weather.
“Managing an appointment system like the one carried out in ‘Hondalea’ with the uncertainty that rough seas may force appointments to be canceled because you cannot access the island is complicated, he acknowledged.
The mayor of San Sebastián stressed that the book on Hondalea will serve to disseminate “one of the greatest artistic creations that the city has had in recent years” and that it is already part of the landscape of San Sebastián.
