The exhibition ‘De temor y seda. Las torres de vigilancia de la costa’ (Of fear and silk. The watchtowers of the coastline) explores the watchtowers distributed along the almost 500 km of coastline of the Valencian Community. This watchtowers formed a coordinated system to control the territory since the mid-19th century. As the title of the exhibition suggests, its construction was driven by the fear of pirates and corsairs. Their construction was funded by the Generalitat through a tax on silk. At the time, this procedure was considered exemplary in the Hispanic kingdoms. It is a heritage linked to the sea, to vigilance and to security in navigation and in the lives of the people near the coastline.
This heritage shapes a cultural landscape with important heritage elements. The project shows results and materials all beautifully oriented as a cultural, leisure and touristic resource. The study backing the exhibition i supported by the scientific rigour while its presentation to society is carried out in a didactic way, with a graphic and audiovisual perspective. The information is presented in Valencian, Spanish and English.
The exhibition has a multidisciplinary character and will travel to several places of the Valencian Community. In the capital, the Edificio del Reloj (Clock tower) has been chosen due to its closeness with the old defensive infrastructure which was part of the system: the Baluarte del Grao.
Exhibition information
Santa Pola
Museo del Mar
23 February to 31 March 2024.
Comission
Luis Arciniega García
Technical coordination
Rubén Pacheco Díaz
Ester Medán Sifre
Research and Documentation
Demetrio Ribes Chair Team:
Luis Arciniega García (director)
Óscar Calvé Mascarell
Manuel Carreres Rodríguez
Susana Climent Viguer
Ester Medán Sifre
Rubén Pacheco Díaz
Expository Design
Espirelius
Illustration
Rosana Crespo
Production and assembly.
Santi Andrés
Itinerancy
- Dénia. Museu de la Mar (11/04/2025 - 06/10/2025)
- Valencia. Edificio del Reloj – Port of València. From 4 to 22 April.
- Villajoyosa. Vilamuseu. From 30 April to 23 June.
- Benicarló. MucBe. From 26 June to 28 July.
- Xàbia. Soler Blasco Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Jávea - Public Library at the Historic Centre. From 1 August to 29 September.
- Alacant. Casa Mediterráneo From 4 October to 3 November.
- Altea. Altea Palace From 18 December to 28 January.
- Upcoming itinerancy: Callosa d’en Sarrià, Dénia and others
