Para comenzar he escogido tres: uno de los que aparecen en la exposición que he comentado y dos nuevos.
El segundo está dedicado a la fabricación de cuévanos, unos cestos que se portan a la espalda y que han sido muy comunes en la montaña de Cantábria. El amigo que los fabrica se llama Iñaki Madrazo, vive en Bustablado y es uno de los últimos que ocasionalmente se dedica a ello. https://vimeo.com/193705248
El tercero va de la cestería de láminas de madera. Lo fui grabando a lo largo de los últimos años que viví en Galicia. Pepe López, que es quien aparece en el reportaje, es el único habitante de una aldea perdidísima de la Sierra del Caurel (Lugo). Aprendió a cestear de su padre y, como ha hecho siempre, aprovecha los meses de invierno para fabricar los cestos que después, especialmente en verano, vende a la poca gente que pasa por allí. Hace tiempo que no visito a Pepe pero el cariño y la amistad que nos tenemos, como con todos los demás, siguen vivos. https://vimeo.com/193728636
Continuaré añadiendo videos sobre otros cesteros y otros materiales a ese canal y los iré incluyendo en un gadget dedicado a ello que podréis encontrar en la fila de la derecha de este blog. Cuando hayan sido grabados con la cámara más vieja, la calidad, como comprobaréis, será menor. De una manera u otra y por si sirvieran para algo ahí van y ahí irán yendo.
FILMING
I bought my first video camera about twelve years ago. I had been taking pictures
since the beginning of the nineties, when I started the field research on
basketry, but over time it seemed to me that filming the basketmakers working,
explaining or living could be useful and enrich the documentation. So then,
first with that camera which was not good enough and then with a little better
one, I've been gathering tens or maybe hundreds of hours that, when I find
moments and encouragement, I try to mount (very simply, of course, because my
knowledge in that field is minimal and the time required for this work is
immense) in order to show some reports. The first four finished I presented
them forming part of an exhibition called “More
than baskets: Spanish popular basketry”, which has been touring some
European countries and landed a couple of times in Spain (Albacete and
Valladolid). Those who have visited it will have had the chance to see them. Now I have decided to
go hanging some in a channel that I have opened in vimeo.
As a beginning, I have chosen three: one of those that appear in the
exhibition that I have mentioned and two new ones.
The first one is about fan palm basketry. It is the result of the recordings
that I have been doing for years with a group of women from Capdepera
(Mallorca) who keep this basketry alive in a very genuine way, coming together
in circle (the so-called vetlerías)
to manufacture pieces as it has been done almost uninterruptedly from no one
knows when in their village. Here you have the link: https://vimeo.com/196188686.
The second one is dedicated to the manufacture of cuévanos some baskets that are carried on the
back and have been very common in the mountains of Cantabria. The friend who makes
them is called Iñaki Madrazo, who lives in Bustablado and is one of the last
who occasionally dedicates himself to it. Https://vimeo.com/193705248.
The third one deals with wood strips basketry. I was recording it over the
last few years I lived in Galicia. Pepe López, who is the one who appears in
the story, is the only inhabitant of a lost village in the Sierra del Caurel
(Lugo). He learned how to make baskets from his father and, as he has always
done, takes advantage of the winter months to make baskets that later,
especially during the summer, he sells to the few people who pass by. I have
not visited Pepe for some time, but the affection and friendship that we have,
as with all the others, are still alive. Https://vimeo.com/193728636.
I will continue to add videos about other basketmakers and other materials
to that channel and I will include them in a gadget dedicated to it that you
can find in the row on the right of this blog. When they have been recorded
with the older camera, the quality, as you will see, will be worse. In one way
or another and in case they serve for something there they go and there they
will continue to go.
(English version by Nacho Gil)
