The exhibition 'From the forest to the stars' by José Luis Carrillo, protagonist at Boca del Calvari Museum

Boca del Calvari Museum in Benidorm has been hosting the exhibition ‘From the Forest to the Stars’ since yesterday, a double exhibition by photographer José Luis Carrillo that brings together two of his most acclaimed projects: ‘The Children of the Deer’ and ‘Spanish Files’. The opening, which took place yesterday afternoon, was attended by the mayor, Toni Pérez; the councillor for Historical and Cultural Heritage, Ana Pellicer; members of the municipal council; and the artist himself.

The opening included a tour of the exhibition led by Carrillo, who offered insights into the work, as well as some of the subjects of the exhibition, which, as councillor Ana Pellicer noted, “leaves no one indifferent.”

At the opening, the councillor emphasised that the exhibition is “a journey from the deepest roots of the earth to the highest reaches of the sky”. It explained that “both exhibitions share a common thread: the ancestral and the unknown.” Pellicer emphasised that Benidorm “is already a cultural benchmark with these and other exhibitions like the ones we have outdoors in the urban area.”

For his part, José Luis Carrillo described his work as “a product of contemporary photography,” which he said “guides my personal work because it reflects on who we are.” The artist photographed both exhibitions, and regarding the first, ‘Spanish Files,’ he indicated that “it is a reflection on how, in moments of anguish, we look to the sky to find out where we come from.” About the second, ‘The Children of the Deer,’ he explained that it is “a portrait of a place, the most depopulated in Europe, in the upper Tagus region, which I wanted to rescue before it disappears.” In his images, he reflects “reminiscences that Celtic culture remains in the area,” and said that his objective is “to recover the idea that nature is what will save us.”

Finally, Mayor Toni Pérez, who closed the inauguration, pointed out that “art and photography make us reflect” on the reality that exists in the upper Tagus region. “We all know that this is the reality,” Pérez stated, adding that “what is essential is the human being” and that “our job is to leave a better world than the one we found.”

The Sons of the Deer

The Upper Tagus Valley, between Guadalajara and Teruel, is one of the most sparsely populated areas in Europe. In this rugged landscape, where nature reigns supreme, the echoes of an ancestral cosmogony inherited from the Celtic peoples survive. There, the stag—symbol of Cernunnos, the horned god and lord of the forest—remains a vibrant presence in the popular imagination.

In ‘The Sons of the Deer,’ José Luis Carrillo documents the last inhabitants of this magical territory, heirs to a worldview seemingly frozen in time. His portraits, landscapes, and everyday scenes reveal the enduring legacy of an archaic way of thinking that connects humankind with the land and animals.

A poetic and anthropological perspective on a community that, isolated by depopulation, has preserved intact a way of understanding life and nature.

This project has received Juan Gil-Albert Alicante Institute of Culture Award 2025, the Revela’t Award 2022, and is part of the prestigious ‘Los Cuadernos de La Kursala’ collection, in addition to having been exhibited at festivals and art centres throughout the country.

‘Spanish Files’

Between the 1970s and 80s, Spain experienced a veritable UFO craze. Sightings filled newspaper front pages, news broadcasts opened with mysterious testimonies, and ufologists were media personalities. Decades later, media interest has faded, but the cases continue. And so do the questions.

Driven by unexplained personal experiences, José Luis Carrillo embarks on a photographic and documentary investigation across Spain in ‘Spanish Files,’ following in the footsteps of JJ Benítez and other researchers of the mystery.

Through photographs, original documents, newspaper clippings, military reports, and archival material, the author offers a reflection on faith, doubt, and the human need to believe in the unknown.

This exhibition, produced by the Andalusian Centre for Photography (CAF), brings together 50 photographs and hundreds of documents that form a unique visual archive on the history of the UFO phenomenon in Spain.

Between myth and reality

Taken together, ‘From the Forest to the Stars’ proposes a journey from the earthly and ancestral realm of ‘The Children of the Deer’ to the cosmic and elusive realm of ‘Spanish Files’. A voyage between earth and sky, between collective memory and the past, that delves into how humankind constructs its relationship with reality through magical thinking.

Both works address themes deeply linked to identity and the recent history of Spain. In them, José Luis Carrillo documents fragments of our reality and our past, but he does so seeking the traces of myth, mysticism, and spirituality that still linger beneath the surface of the everyday.

The exhibition can be visited at Museu Boca del Calvari from this Friday until next January, with free admission and during the museum's opening hours. Specifically, Monday to Sunday, from 12 pm to 8 pm.