Baso bidaiariak / Traveling forests is a prototype of arboreal alignment for public space. The work is designed for the terrace of Azkuna Zentroa, proposing an arboretum in line, a garden for public use that crosses the space. The work is a continuation of the project initiated in Rome, Tree planting for streets, empires and paradisesin which I build patterns and models of tree alignments that create stories from the history of the tree species. Baso bidaiariak / Traveling forests focuses on the history of trees in Euskadi, some of them originating from the native forests, others imported from other places. The lineup is composed of oaks (Quercus robur), beech (Fagus sylvatica), ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior), palm trees (Washingtonia filifera) and pines (Pinus). This project creates a dialogue between the species, their places of origin, their uses and their realities in different historical moments.

It refers to the imaginary of travel, navigation and territorial hybridizations that this entails. I am interested in talking about movement from beings that a priori we see as static and relativize our perception from their space / time parameters. The oak is the tree in which the maximum symbolic load is concentrated in the history of Euskadi. The tree of Gernika is the emblem of a culture that has its origins in ancient times, heir to a unique language, along with a territorial political tradition based on the fueros. (…)

Oak and beech, two of the most common trees in the native Basque forest, were fundamental for the development of two of the pillars of this economy, shipbuilding and ironworks. Wood, as a construction material and fuel, was the origin of an industry that made the institutionalization and administration of this wild place necessary. (…)

This industry promoted the development of knowledge in the field of navigation, triggered the Basque whaling industry and the emergence of navigators who participated in expeditions into the unknown, such as Juan Sebastian Elcano, who managed to make the first circumnavigation of the world. The management of the forests caused a tension between the demands of the crown for the royal navy and the uses of the inhabitants of these territories. (…)

After a tour of the different species of trees that make up Baso bidaiariak / Traveling forests and returning to the universe described by Jose Miguel de Barandiaran, perhaps we can imagine that the coyote, the hummingbird and the eagle, also came to coexist with Mari, the lamiak and Baxajaun. A common image in the radiata pine forests is to see the native ferns at their feet. Pteridium aquilinumtranslated from Latin as 'eagle's wings'.

And water the roses and change things / E bagnare le rose e cambiare le cose. José Ramón Ais.

Five thousand roses are missing, because we put so many, but we promised others. Five thousand different roses grow in the park of San Giovanni, where the asylum imposed uniformity and discipline. There, where in the last fifty years Trieste has been a concrete symbol of the closing of the asylums, of the practical criticism of the follia. We are in the process of creating, of invention, emancipation and diversity as a material figure of other care, for mental health. Five thousand roses are missing in the Rose Garden of San Giovanni and for this reason we invite you to play with us: to plant, to care for, to water new hybridizations and grafts, to enrich a living archive that houses five thousand different typologies created through a constant process of contamination and collective invention.

The proposal is to participate in the creation of new roses from the existing ones, using the Rose Garden as an archive, memory, common unconscious, space of desire, fantastic machine. Hybridization that escapes from the practice of gardening to connect with other disciplines. In the wake of Laboratory P and the Follia AcademyWhat would we obtain by hybridizing the Jules Verne rose with the Revolution rose?

The roses we seek are crosses and alliances, friction and complicity. To continue affirming that our diversity is a common wealth. "Because up close, no one is normal".

Urban action in the Ciudad-Jardín Prosperidad neighborhood, Madrid, 2018-2021.. Alicia Chillida (Collaboration with the project by José Ramón Ais): E bagnare le rose e cambiare le cose / And water the roses and change things)

It is the only flower pot in the street. This is an action in which the members of a community are invited to take care of a plant located in the public space.

Jasmine of Tucumán, Arauja sericifera
Common name: Cruel plant, Arauja
This climbing plant is capable of growing on any type of support, whether artificial or natural, which makes it invasive. It captures the butterflies and insects that come to its flowers, remaining attached to them.

Syrian rose, hibiscus syriacus
Common name: Suspiro, Rose of Sarón
The Syrian rose is a flowering species that can grow as a tree, shrub and reach up to 4m in height. Its flowers are prized for their vivid colors. It is the national flower of South Korea, where it is easy to find it in various national emblems.