The Universitat de València presents this exhibition by Juan Piqueras, Professor of Geography, which recovers the memory of a profession that was essential to the forestry and river economy for centuries: the transport of logs through rivers.

Maderadas y gancheros. Los caminos del agua immerses us in the history of the gancheros, workers who guided logs down the Cabriel, Júcar and Turia rivers from the inland mountains to the centres of consumption. Next to them was an entire organisation and culture linked to the forest, the river and the transport of a vital resource: wood

Through graphic panels, maps and historical photographs, the exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of this activity that no longer exists, but that had a profound impact on the landscape and the lives of many rural communities in Valencia.

The exhibition begins its tour in Chelva, one of the emblematic towns of this tradition, and will continue its course through other towns in the Valencian region and the campuses of the Universitat de València. The exhibition will bring this activity, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2022, to the general public and university students.