Following in Boabdil's footsteps : Story of a Hidden Treasure

The history of Andalusia carries along innumerable names of battles, victorious lords, mythical figures and magical places. The region's undulating, fertile plains meet stark, obscure mountains whose names mingle arabic and castillan.

Its paths used to be followed by adventure-seeking travellers, trade caravans, highwaymen, smugglers, farmers and Gipsies; for centuries have its luxuriant landscapes provided the perfect setting for the emergence of diverse, enigmatic narratives that reflect the spirit of this mysterious and contrasting land.

Through the numerous peoples, cultures and tales that it has hosted, Andalusia has maintained the confusion between myths and reality for centuries, including for the countless legends ofhidden treasures. Both in historical publications and more literary writing... Historians, as well as creative writers, are subtly ambiguous about the existence of treasures and their surrounding events and characters.

Who can tell wether hidden treasures exist? Who has ever been able to prove it?

Purpose and approach :

Tremendoulsy intrigued by the figure of legend and its ambiguousness, we were conforted in our interest a few month ago, while conversing with one of our close friends, Maria Teresa, whose family has had very closed links with andalusian legends. Her story, available as an audio file on this page (only in french), convinced us to go to Andalusia in order to shoot a documentary film.

Our work on the field :

In order to best collect comments, experiences and impressions, we have decided to diversify our approaches: once we are on the field, our project will thus mingle photography, videos, illustrations and creative writing.  

Finding inspiration in Chris Marker's movie La jetée as well as Elie Faure's work in the field of History of Art, we will combine research – and the theoretical objectivity it implies – with a work of creation (wrinting, illustration, etc.) that allows the emergence of a poetical space restoring the strength and the character of mythical narratives.

Departure :

We have decided to travel the roads of Andalusia in a van for three weeks in August. As we can sleep on board, we'll have the autonomy and capacity of action that our field of research requires.

As our project deals with the Andalusian culture, our objective is to be as mobile as possible in the region in order to immerse ourselve in its unique atmosphere, while being able to integrate quickly into the local everyday life so we can collect images, impressions and stories from the people.

Vincent Ferrer, graduate from the Political Studies Institute of Aix-en-Provence, France, has been devoting himself to photography for more than five years.

Romain Génard, graduate from the Political Studies Institute of Aix-en-Provence, France, studies cinema at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris.

Aglaé Rochette studies at ESAD (Strasbourg Higher School od Decorative Arts). Her work covers many fields: drawing, painting, photography…

Clémentine Bouchot studies at ENSAV (Higher School of Visual Arts) in Brussels. Her work includes drawingm painting and photography.