Paiporta 2024 was presented in Brussels. The opening drew a large crowd of visitors, with an attentive audience deeply interested in the dialogue between art, territory, and the climate emergency. Ironically, the exhibition in Brussels coincided with an exceptional heat wave in Europe, reminding us of the urgency to reflect on this issue.
The event was attended by institutional representatives such as Berta Corredor (Cultural Office of the Spanish Embassy in Belgium), Leticia Casaña (Delegation of the Valencian Community in Brussels), and José Manuel Hernández Arroyo (Creative Europe). The atmosphere was intimate, participatory, and marked by conversations about the need to create spaces for shared reflection among territories affected by floods.
The Teuladí wine, courtesy of the Valencian winery El Angosto, accompanied the gathering. The winery is known for its recovery of native grape varieties and its specialization in limited-production Mediterranean wines, a detail that reinforced the connection between the project and the Valencian territory.
The exhibition was presented at the Artists Club Coffre Fort, located in the central Sainte-Catherine neighborhood. The space, born as a meeting point for contemporary art, is known for its monumental safe integrated into the architecture, which in this case was surrounded by a plant barrier and served as an inverse metaphor for the natural protection featured in the project. If nature acted as a barrier during the disaster, the safe now guards the pieces that preserve the actual paw prints of the rescue dogs, becoming a symbolic container of memory and vulnerability.
After being presented in Madrid and Valencia, the exhibition in Brussels reinforces an international dialogue between territories that share problems stemming from climate change. This project highlights the need to think about collective responses to extreme weather phenomena and champions memory as a tool for reconstruction. It is also a tribute to the affected communities and to all the people who worked to save lives.
The project was made with the support of the Ministry of Culture – Government of Spain and in collaboration with Tecnan, Sofcar, and the Valencian Space of Belgium, which has promoted its international dissemination and its connection with the local audience.
Activitat realitzada amb l’ajuda del Ministerio de Cultura – Gobierno de España.
