02 Jun 2026
Soundscape | Carme López Fernández
Essayby Carme López Fernández
Villages are becoming empty, slowly disappearing due to the relentless advance of urbanization driven by capitalism and the State, but even so, is the countryside dead?
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When I close my eyes in my garden, it's easy to see how truly wonderful things are happening there, where life sprouts every second, framed by lush nature, full of animals, people, vehicles, water, air... an incessant soundscape that stretches everywhere around anyone who stops to listen.
And that's not all; the gentle sway of the tranquil existence of rural life provokes an inner stirring that slowly moves between what is happening outside and what is happening inside, a silent communication that organically transports us and, at the same time, anchors us to the earth.
The voices in the villages sound ten times louder, and not only because the noise doesn't silence them or because they aren't confined within four walls, but because the human bond, driven by the increasingly irreparable loss of neighbors, is the fundamental link in the formation of their communities.
Rosalía cried as she said goodbye to the little garden she loved so much, and it doesn't surprise me. If any of you who travel through this soundscape don't have a garden, I invite you to come to mine. Yoy may return to it whenever you want.
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The Soundscape section is coordinated by Fernando José Pereira
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22 May 2026
Interview with Joel Valabrega on the INDEX Biennial in Braga
By Orsola Vannocci Bonsi
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