Benidorm 'travels' to the land of Mosuo women

On September 30, the Espai d'Art Urbà Carrasco will host an exhibition of eleven photographs with explanatory texts that are part of a project by Nuria Crivillés and the photographer Vicente Miña under the title 'Mosuo. A trip to the land of women exposes scenes of daily life and customs of this Chinese ethnic group located in the southeast of the country, in the vicinity of Lake Lugu on a plateau at 2,700 meters of altitude.

The sample has been officially visited this morning by the mayor Toni Pérez, accompanied by the Councilor for Historical and Cultural Heritage, Ana Pellicer, and members of the local corporation. There, the mayor has highlighted "how two Benidorm residents have been able to capture this reality living with the culture and people of China in that place that is a matriarchy." She has also been grateful that "they have brought a little piece of that experience, which they are now going to complete again." Pellicer has also stressed that "the open-air museum that is Benidorm is going to go in crescendo".

For her part, Nuria Crivillés thanked "the opportunity to exhibit in our town and also 'Benidorm Expone' for moving forward with this project." Crivillés recalled that the idea of traveling to this community arose from the experience of having lived in China for two years. "I read an article from an ethnic group that is one of the few matriarchies in the world."

The photographer Vicente Miña has said on her side that “after Nuria investigated, she had to go and meet him. We spent some time living together and this exhibition is the result”. In this sense, Crivillés has pointed out that “this is just the beginning and we would like to return in a couple of years to see how it has evolved because we read that sex tourism was beginning to develop. There is a nearby airport already built and we want to see the possible social changes”.

The mayor, Toni Pérez, specified in his speech that "before there was no art on the street" and described these initiatives "that sometimes generate envy" as "disruptive". He said that “Now it seems normal for there to be art on the street, but before it wasn't. We are generating important synergies between the walker and the art that he encounters”.

Regarding the exhibition, he has highlighted that “it is a Benidorm project that goes much further because it brings us closer to the reality of a very remote country in a region where culture is led by the strong leadership of women.