Olot shares the life experiences of immigrant women through ceramics

2023-06-22 14:02:19

Olot has launched the ‘Mud Project’. It is an initiative that seeks the interrelationship between immigrant women of the city, while they work and make ceramic pieces. The common feature among the 23 who signed up is that they came from outside and, in many cases, with complicated situations. María Dandi Romero is one of the participants. He is from Ecuador and attends all sessions. He explains that it is very good for him to learn about cultures of other countries and also because it helps him to distract himself, since he cannot find a job. With her, other women seek this interrelation to share life experiences, while making ceramic elements. All together, based on the instructions of the artist María Camila Sanjinés.

In mid-October, Sala Oberta 3 of the Museu de la Garrotxa will exhibit some special pieces. They will be those of the Colombian artist and therapist María Camila Sanjinés. There will be between five and six ceramic works, which will combine other elements, but which will be the result of four sessions with immigrant women who live in Olot. Based on the meetings, Sanjinés collects the concerns and life experiences of these women who share a classroom for two hours and who work through ceramics to express what they want to express.

This is the ‘Mud Project’, which aims to connect these women who, for the most part, have experienced complicated situations and who are residing in the capital of La Garrotxa. “What we find is that they are looking for a network. Someone to talk to for a while and create a bond,” Sanjinés points out.

During the class, they talk, explain what they feel and what they have experienced and, based on the topic that Sanjinés gives them, they make a ceramic piece. These elements will be used by the Colombian artist to create the exhibition. “The pieces will have a part of each,” he notes.

Sanjinés explains that she understands “very well” the feeling that these women have, who in many cases have arrived in “a new city with a different culture” just a few months ago. This is the case of María Dandi Romero. He lives with three children in Olot and has two more in Ecuador. He explains that coming to the sessions helps him to distract himself and meet people who are in a similar situation to him.

It was at social services that he told her about these meetings and explains that they have gone very well. He hopes that the experience can be repeated, because it allows him to meet other people with different cultures, but who share the fact of having come from other countries of the world and live in Olot.

Other similar proposals

The exhibition that will take place in October from these meetings is not new. In fact, the Museums of Olot have taken forward initiatives that have many things in common with the ‘Mud Project’. For example, there have been meetings with older people who interact with young people from high school and that coincidences emerged from an artistic work.

The result of the meetings can be seen in Open Room 3 of the Museu de la Garrotxa with an exhibition that goes beyond showing the works of Sanjinés. The idea, explains the curator of the Museums of Olot, Xavier Roura, is for there to be an interaction with the public. “The idea is that the visitor contributes his opinion and his point of view”, he pointed out.