The ENAIRE Foundation presents "La sombra incisa. Bordeando el hielo” (The passing shadow. Skirting the ice), Javier Vallhonrat's latest artistic project

Located in the Naves de Gamazo (Santander), the ENAIRE Foundation is presenting the exhibit La sombra incisa. Bordeando el hielo, the latest artistic project by photographer Javier Vallhonrat. A work that emerges from the artist's love for natural spaces, and with which he seeks to raise awareness and focus on the value of nature and the degradation caused by human action and activity.

The exhibit contains a total of 40 works from the artist's personal archive, the ENAIRE Collection of Contemporary Art, and the University of Navarra, accompanied by audiovisual records and documentary pieces that bring us closer to the emotional and symbolic universe that Vallhonrat has woven around the glacier, an entity he views as a complex being full of life, vulnerable and changing.

The exhibit La sombra incisa. Bordeando el hielo, by photographer Javier Vallhonrat, is open to the public at the Naves de Gamazo from 18 March to 29 May 2022 With this exhibit, ENAIRE, through its Foundation, is examining the role that art can play to raise awareness of sustainability and the fight against climate change.

The works on display represent an extended and revised edition of the exhibit presented in Madrid in 2019 as a result of Javier Vallhonrat having received, a year earlier, the 1st ENAIRE Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in Photography. Vallhonrat began working on this project in 2009, when he explored his relationship with the high mountain and the Maladeta Glacier, and which originated in a photograph taken of the glacier in 1853 by Frenchman Joseph Vigier.

The artistic work presented by the author highlights the importance of slowness and of experiencing the physical medium as a way of establishing an emotional and symbolic relationship with the Maladeta Glacier, a unique historical bastion in southern Europe, which he portrays with love and respect. This project showcases the permanence of the Maladeta Glacier, located in the Pyrenees of Huesca, and which since 1991 has lost more than 60% of its surface area.

Guided tours of the exhibit and activities

A total of four daily visits will be offered, two in the morning and two in the evening. From Tuesday to Friday, the morning tours will be reserved for groups (associations, schools, etc.); guided tours will be offered in the evening at 6:30 PM.

On Saturdays, tours will be offered at 12:30 and 6:30 PM; Sundays and public holidays at 12:30 PM. The tours will last approximately 50 minutes. No reservations are necessary, but tours may be arranged by writing to actividadesgamazo@fundacion.enaire.es or by calling 697 652 171.

Similarly, a series of workshops and educational activities for audiences of all ages have been designed for this exhibit.

About Javier Vallhonrat

Javier Vallhonrat (Madrid 1953), who has a degree in Fine Arts and Psychology, chose photography as his preferred means of research, exploring its limits as a language, and engaging it in a dialogue with painting, video, performance, the spoken word or an installation.

Over more than three decades, Vallhonrat has carried out his work while simultaneously teaching in public and private institutions in several countries. Over the past few years, he has worked in specific geoclimatic environments, conducting long-term projects that he continues to develop to this day.

The work of this artist has been exhibited in numerous museums and institutions around the world, and is found in collections such as the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the Grand Duc Jean in Luxembourg, the Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art, and others.

His work has been recognised with numerous prestigious awards, including Spain's National Photography Award, the Photography Award of the Community of Madrid, the Madrid City Council's Photography Award, the Bartolomé Ros Prize in PHotoESPAÑA and the ENAIRE Foundation's 1st Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Naves de Gamazo

The first permanent headquarters of ENAIRE's Contemporary Art Collection. A new cultural facility opened last July at a cost of 2,159,000 euros, financed by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda (MITMA) thanks to the 1.5% Cultural Programme to preserve Spain's Historical Heritage.

A new exhibit centre with nearly 1,000 m2 of flexible surface area that was conceived and designed to adapt easily to different projects and exhibits. One of them is the permanent home to a selection of pieces from the ENAIRE Collection of Contemporary Art, which will rotate over time. In the other, three temporary exhibits will be organised each year.

The Naves de Gamazo, located in a prime location in the Bay of Santander, is supported by the Office of the Vice President of the Government of Cantabria, the Department of Universities, Equality, Culture and Sport, and the Port Authority of Santander, which share the operating expenses in order to ensure the future viability of the centre.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, it provides en route control services for all flights and overflights from five control centres in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma, as well as approach services to every airport in the country.

In addition, 45 control towers receive ENAIRE's communication, navigation and surveillance services, and 21 airports, including the country's busiest, rely on its aerodrome control services.

ENAIRE is Europe's fourth largest air traffic manager. Since 1 January 2022, it has chaired the A6 Alliance, a coalition of air navigation providers responsible for over 80% of European air traffic, and which is seeking to modernise the air traffic management system. It is also a member of other international alliances promoting the Single European sky, such as SESAR Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, iTEC, CANSO and ICAO.

ENAIRE has received the highest score in Europe on the aviation safety key performance indicator. It has also been awarded the EFQM 500 Seal for its safe, efficient, innovative and sustainable management of air navigation services.