“Llatina i Mestral”, a Pictorial Project Aboard a Traditional Mallorcan Llaüt

The Consell of Mallorca and Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani presented this Tuesday, July 8, the artistic project by Alberto Baraya, titled “Llatina i Mestral.”

The project will be inaugurated on Friday, July 11, at the Museu Marítim de Mallorca – Museu de la Mar, in Port de Sóller.

This artistic action is part of the Biennal B, a project that promotes interdisciplinary creative initiatives that foster collaboration between contemporary artists and craft professionals committed to sustainable development, traditional trades, and the landscape. In this way, it highlights the cultural richness of Mallorca through art.

The Vice President of the Consell de Mallorca and Councillor for Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, explained that “Llatina i Mestral” is a pictorial project developed by Baraya aboard the Brandó, a traditional Mallorcan llaüt. The artist painted a sailing sail, made especially for the occasion, in situ, while the boat sailed along the island’s coast, from Portitxol to the quarries near the Seu, where the marès stone used in iconic constructions like La Seu Cathedral and the walls of Es Baluard originated.

The director of Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani, David Barro, explained that this project connects contemporary art with Mallorca’s nautical and landscape traditions, and revives the idea of painting in motion, giving importance to the landscape and to plein-air painting.

The result of this pictorial and conceptual journey will be on display at the Maritime Museum in Port de Sóller from July 11 to September 28. The exhibition will feature the painted sails and a documentary video of the action.

As Roca emphasized, this project allows Es Baluard Museu, for the first time in its history, to work in a decentralized and cooperative way with both public and private entities, encouraging collaboration among island institutions, agents, artists, and Balearic artisans, as well as professionals in scientific knowledge.

The island institution and Es Baluard aim to highlight Mallorca’s cultural and natural heritage through interdisciplinary projects that bring together art, craftsmanship, and landscape.

This Biennal B action is part of the project “The Island as Stage” — curated by Iñaki Martínez Antelo and Alicia Ventura — and is complemented by an educational project jointly developed by Es Baluard Museu, the MUCBO, the Sóller Botanical Garden – Balearic Museum of Natural Sciences, and the Museu de la Mar, Port de Sóller. This project is based on an expedition through the Port of Sóller in search of artificial marine flora and fauna, with the aim of contrasting the findings with the real and natural Balearic ecosystem. The entire project will be publicly presented at the modernist house Can Prunera, in the center of Sóller, also on Friday, July 11.