The exhibition was inaugurated by Toni Saura, Mayor of Alaquàs; Jorge Hermosilla, Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society; Pilar Molina and José Luís Cuenca, directors of the Alaquàs offices of Caixa Popular; and Ricardo Franch, professor at the University of Valencia and curator of the exhibition.

The 22 panels that make up the exhibition, whose contents were prepared by professors Ricardo Franch (curator), Germán Navarro and Daniel Muñoz, constitute an excellent compendium of Valencian silk culture with a transversal approach, which shows the importance of the silk production, transformation and trade for Valencia and its surroundings during the period between the 15^th- 19^th century. This exhibition, produced by the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society of the University of Valencia, with the collaboration of Caixa Popular and Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, aims to contribute to the knowledge a fundamental stage of our history linked to the Valencian territory.

‘This exhibition aims to contribute to the recovery of the collective memory of an activity that has had such an influence on our history’, said Ricardo Franch, the showing curator and full university professor of Modern History at the University of Valencia.

Jorge Hermosilla, Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, and Toni Saura, Mayor of Alaquàs, coincided in underlining the ‘opportunity that this exhibition represents for the residents of Alaquàs to get to know, thanks to recognised experts from the Unviersity of Valencia, the significance that silk had for the Valencians between the 15^th and 19^th centuries’.

As with the exhibitions produced by the Office of the Vice-Principal for Territorial Projection and Society, the exhibition ‘Valencian participation in the Silk Route. History, landscape and heritage’ is itinerant. It has already been exhibited in the UV Botanical Garden in Valencia and in Ontinyent. It will be in Alaquàs until 2 June and will continue its tour around the towns and villages of the Valencian territory so that society can get to know and value its historical and social heritage. The next destination will be Requena.