SEE AND FEEL Valencia photographed We have been brought together with Valencia through 6 years of cooperation by way of the Comisión Científico-artística de la Generalitat Valenciana. This year, in addition to counting upon the presence of the Generalitat Valenciana in arteBA2004, where it will be presenting a preview of the next Biennial de Valencia 2005, it gives us pride to open the See and Feel, Valencia photographed exhibition at the arteBAsala10, curated by Rosalind Williams. This exhibition will allow the public to be brought into contact with various perspectives of this city, experimenting using the image, the immense accumulation of visual sensations that the artists put forward. Seven artists, seven lenses, seven different visions of Valencia in order to reveal its essence. Comission Sala10 A point of view Valencia is one of the best kept secrets in Spain: a city which allows itself to be discovered, lived in, enjoyed, Valencia must be seen and lived with the five senses: See. Hear. Taste. Smell. Touch. One by one or all at once! This is how Valencia has to be experimented with, and it is in this particular feature that the attractiveness of the city lies, its secret specialness. The city is bathed with an extraordinary Mediterranean light. A light produces a continuing change with the passing of the hours, of the different seasons. The sense of hearing is what counts the most in the explosions with which weddings, baptisms, a promotion or the Fallas, the city’s most famous annual fiesta is celebrated. Whether in the form of small firecrackers or complicated fireworks displays, pyrotechnics plays a fundamental role in the life of the city. Valencia allows itself to be felt as soon as one arrives, whether by land or by air, through the caress of a gust of heady subtropical air. In the same way, its architecture asks to be touched, whether it be a baroque cathedral from the 15th century, an office building from the 19th century, or a bridge or auditorium from the last third of the 20th century. Valencia’s architecture cries out to be touched, felt, experimented with. With its history going back to its Roman origins, almost two centuries before the birth of Christ, Valencia – which is now celebrating its 14th century as a city and which, as historic facts show, at certain points it was the most important financial centre in Spain, even more important than Barcelona – has been, obviously, felt by many. However, talking again about the Romans, the geographic location of the city allowed it to become a natural centre of commercial, political and cultural activity. It was in the 15th century as an Islamic city – the most important in Al Ándalus – that Valencia reached an unmatched splendour. Conquered in 1238 by James I of Aragon, the city became the capital of the Kingdom of Valencia, enjoying its own laws, currency and a parliament with similar characteristics to those of Catalonia and Aragon. Up to this day, laws and customs which origins go back to antiquity still remain. As a cultural centre of primary importance, Valencia has been the birthplace of a large number of artistic achievements, with the most important Spanish painter of the 17th century, José Ribera, El Españoleto (Xátiva, 1591) and the impressionist Joaquín Sorolla (Valencia, 1863) at the top of an impressive list of historically and universally acknowledged artists. Equally, it has been the subject of art works by recognized artists – and also by other lesser-known ones-, Valencia is also the protagonist of countless photographs and works in other artistic bases. This is especially certain in the case of the abundant production of the French photographer, Jean Laurent. He comes to mind because of his particularly poignant image consisting of an elegant view of the Grao de Valencia with its solitary building and the open waves of the high sea. Throughout the 20th century the city has also been the work setting for many photographers such as Henri Cartier Bresson and Robert Frank, amongst others. The Project For the project that we’re presenting, See and feel, Valencia photographed, we have invited various artists – eight in total – to confront and get to the bottom of the complexities of the city of Valencia. Through the art of photography they are offering their own interpretations of various aspects of this metropolis of a million inhabitants, which may be described using adjectives like sophisticated, complex, mysterious, eclectic, modern, elegant, cacophonic, fascinating, and a large etcetera. The most important strategy for achieving a unified approach has been attempting to capture the essence of the city, on the one hand allowing those who have lived there for years to discover what remains unknown about it or show what is already known in a different light. On the other hand, for those who for one reason or another aren’t familiar with the city or have been away from it over the last years, the possibility to show a renewed knowledge of a previous perception. Valencia is an expanding metropolis. To achieve the objective of this project, eight photographers - Miguel Bergasa (Pamplona), Enrique Carrazoni (Valencia), Pablo Genovés (Madrid), Silvia Martí (Valencia), Benito Román (Madrid), Philipp Scholz-Ritterman (San Diego), Eugenio Vizuete (Valencia) and Joel-Peter Witkin (Albuquerque)– three of them from Valencia, three from other parts of Spain and two foreigners, were invited to participate. The resulting works are as varied, from a thematic and technical perspective, as the city itself is diverse. Rosalind Williams Curadora		Miguel Bergasa Joel Witkin Silvia Martí Benito Román Pablo Genovés
	Enrique Carrazoni Philipp Scholz Ritterman