ASTUTAS. Creation of the Soundscape of the Cádiz Salt Flats. Funded by the Provincial Cultural Foundation of Cádiz

ASTUTAS. Immersive exhibition (soundscape + photographs and other artistic media)

Conservation of intangible heritage in Cádiz: the ASTUTAS project , with the support of the Provincial Foundation of Culture, presents the first soundscape of the Cádiz salt flats.

The ASTUTAS project, in collaboration with the Central Research Services at La Esperanza Salt Mine and with the support of the Provincial Foundation for Culture of the Provincial Council of Cádiz, has created the first soundscape of the artisanal salt mines of the Bay of Cádiz.

The piece, created by sound artist Luis López Casero, will be part of the immersive exhibition ASTUTAS and will be available on digital platforms.

Cádiz, September 14, 2024. The ASTUTAS project, created by Rocío Royo, director of Espacio C, was born with the aim of highlighting the economic, environmental, and cultural value of the 21st-century artisanal salt flats of Cádiz and, in this way, contribute to their preservation. Within the framework of this project and thanks to a grant awarded by the Provincial Foundation for Culture of the Cádiz Provincial Council and the support of the companies Accedan, Universal Accessibility, and Sustainable Landscape, the first soundscape of the salt flats of the Bay of Cádiz has been developed, marking a milestone in the conservation of the intangible heritage of these unique spaces. The author of the piece is the sound artist from Huelva Luis López Casero.

Since the end of the 20th century, UNESCO has expanded its concept of cultural heritage to encompass not only tangible assets but also intangible heritage, including sound heritage. Along these lines, a register of the most important documents of humanity was created, including collections of sound recordings, underscoring the need to safeguard this type of heritage.

A soundscape is the acoustic manifestation of an environment. It is a key tool for documenting and understanding it, revealing the identity and cultural dynamics of a place through its sonic dimension. The ASTUTAS soundscape focused on the rich biodiversity and cultural heritage of the province of Cádiz, seeking to rescue and document the sounds of the natural environment of the salt flats, as well as those of the new trades that drive their development in the 21st century and the cultural expressions associated with the province's identity.

In recent years, the artisanal salt mines of the Bay of Cádiz have undergone a remarkable transformation thanks to business initiatives, research projects, and investments. These initiatives have restored their infrastructure, regenerated their ecosystems, and revitalized their productive function, as well as their cultural and ethnographic value. With a diversified and sustainable economy, the "salt mines of the 21st century" are moving toward a promising future that ensures their longevity.

Inspired primarily by the work of researcher Alejandro Pérez Hurtado, director of the Central Research Services at the La Esperanza Salt Mine at the University of Cádiz, the ASTUTAS project by Espacio C emerged. It is an immersive exhibition that will integrate a visual component, an auditory component—with the creation of a soundscape—and other artistic media. In addition to complementing the exhibition, the salt mine soundscape will be available on digital platforms such as IVOX and Spotify to ensure its accessibility.

The project is based on two fundamental concepts advocated for the salt mines by Professor Joaquín Sabaté Bel of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia: the UNESCO "cultural landscape" and the "smart infrastructures" of the United Nations Fifth Framework Programme.

Salt flats constitute a living cultural landscape where the community and the natural environment harmoniously intertwine. They are also exemplary, astute infrastructures, not only functional in salt production but also sustainable in their environmental management and capacity to innovate new business models. Human activity in them not only creates landscapes of singular beauty but also generates a cultural heritage of great value.

During the first days of September, the recordings were made in the salt mines of La Esperanza, San Vicente, Santa María de Jesús, Santa Bárbara and Belén. There were The collaboration of various research and entrepreneurship projects working in this unique setting. To highlight the culture and art associated with the Cádiz salt flats, artists José de los Camarones, María la Mónica, Adrián Trujillos, and Carmelo Muriel also participated.

According to Luis López Casero, sound artist, musician, researcher and author of the soundscape of the salt flats, “the piece seeks to raise awareness and communicate the ecological and heritage value of the Cádiz marine salt flats, presenting a listening experience in which human and non-human activity reveals a hopeful perspective towards an interspecies future .” He explains that “the sounds of this anthropic environment, birds, crustaceans, the sea, new and old human activities such as fishing or the harvesting of salicornia, produce a sonic amalgam that manifests the ecological interrelationship that gave rise to the Cádiz marine salt flats of the 21st century . ”