On 31st of March, Sonia and I arrived at Actor’s Space, the place that will be our home and workplace for the next six months. I had already peeked at the place on Google Maps before coming, but getting there was a completely different impact. The land of Marian and Simon, actors and founders of Actor’s Space, stands on a hill above Vic, a town of about 30,000 inhabitants, from which the view sweeps over a peaceful and beautiful green expanse. The large stone villa conveys the past of an old Catalan country house, and from the window of my room I can see trees, woods and can hear birds and frogs singing.
Marian and Simon’s projects are varied, and we, little by little, try to fit in as best we can to help them realise them, to contribute but also to learn and take home new knowledge. On Monday mornings we always start the week with a meeting, where we organise the next few days, talk about how we are, break the ice a little and exchange feedback on the progress of the project. Once the meeting is over, we devote ourselves until lunchtime to the vegetable garden, which at the moment is in the process of preparing the beds that will hold the plants that we will be planting shortly, using permaculture methodology, which uses the resources already existing in the soil to grow the food we will eat. For example, mulching is a practice that we are using to prepare the soil, and consists of covering the soil with straw (or other organic residues) to facilitate the infiltration and permanence of water in the soil, regulate its temperature and protect it from water and wind erosion.
Monday afternoons and Tuesday mornings are spent with Simon working on the theatre project, which aims to organise an open-air theatre event at the end of June, inspired by Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The great thing about these first two weeks was that Simon wanted to introduce us with an immersion in his art. We made masks out of clay, did theatre exercises, character study and construction, and learned a lot about the art that he and Marian practice.
In the afternoon and on Wednesdays we take care of the forest garden (or food forest), a project in which we are supervised by Julia, the daughter of our hosts. We take care of a garden composed of various edible fruit trees, which help and strengthen each other, planted following the principles of permaculture and regenerative agriculture.
On Thursdays, Ferran, a boy from a local association, comes to help us with the work in the garden. With him we studied how to design the structure and combine companion plants, which facilitate the well-being of the soil. In addition to this, he has showed us various techniques and both he and Marian have taken us around to see interesting projects in the area, such as an ecovillage, a housing cooperative and a sustainable sheep farm.
On Fridays we take care of space management: cleaning, shopping, chopping wood for heating, and we close the week with a meeting between everyone.
This project is very stimulating, because by being the first to participate in it, we are able to be present in the creation, development and maintenance, and this gives us a more complete view of all processes. Since arriving here, I feel my creativity has opened up more, less stifled by the hectic city life, and I perceive creative people around me who are open to listen to new ideas.
So far, a lot of novelties, a lot of stimuli – quite different from what I am used to – and now I am curious to see how everything will evolve, how our seedlings will grow, and us along with them.
– Francesca
