Biophest Festival Presentation
The delegate for Culture, Tourism, and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, presented today the Biophest festival, which will celebrate its first edition from April 4 to 6 at Matadero Madrid, a contemporary creation center under this Government area. This cultural initiative, organized by Intermediae Matadero, will promote the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and artistic experimentation around the concept of biophilia, that is, the emotional bond between humans and nature. Over three days, attendees can participate in a large number of workshops, concerts, guided tours, talks, art installations, exhibitions, and children’s workshops.
«Fascination with plants has developed a lot in recent times. More and more studies show that the complexity of the plant kingdom is much greater than what has traditionally been believed,» Rivera de la Cruz stated during the presentation. Based on this assumption, for the first time in Spain, a festival aims to celebrate and delve into the different connections between humans and the natural world.
Workshops to promote biophilia
Among the numerous workshops scheduled, participants can learn how to take cuttings or maintain a green space on a city terrace to increase the planet’s biodiversity. They will also have the opportunity to learn to identify and care for indoor plants, thus fostering closer contact with more common plant species. In the kokedama (moss ball) workshop, participants can learn the necessary technique to treat this Japanese-origin plant composition with bonsai, ikebana, or kusamono techniques. Additionally, another workshop will offer the opportunity to learn about the uses of botanical dyes for wool dyeing. There will also be room for thought in the experimental writing workshop ‘Art, Biography, and Ecology.’
Conversations with experts
Conversations with experts will take place in the Plató Room at Cineteca Madrid, including philosopher, anthropologist, and gardener Santiago Beruete, who is convinced of the need to move away from the belief that we are the only intelligent organisms on the planet and towards a biocentric worldview.
From England, psychiatrist, gardener, and writer Sue Stuart-Smith will attend the festival, whose book The Well-Gardened Mind is known for its powerful combination of neuroscience, literature, history, and psychoanalysis, showing that nature can radically transform health and self-esteem. On the other hand, gardener, landscaper, and botanical researcher Eduardo Barba will offer the lecture ‘The Art of Plants,’ addressing the benefits of populating cities with green areas.
Also present at Biophest will be Italian gardener and writer Marco Martella, director of the magazine Jardins, who has expressed his devotion to nature in essays such as A Small World, A Perfect World, and Flowers.
Completing the panel is a conversation with artist, photographer, and exhibition curator Toya Legido, who will discuss the direct relationship between humans and their natural environment, presenting nature as an essential content of art.
Artistic installations and exhibitions
The spacious Nave Una at Matadero Madrid will host various art installations such as the plant-based experiment, the first series of digital (re)generative art that evolves, grows, and stores carbon, created by the award-winning artist and designer Cyrus Clarke.
Furthermore, the Chrysalis installation by Casa Protea explores the cycles of transformation and regeneration in nature. Primarily built with different plant species, this organic structure evokes a vibrant and pulsating refuge, a space where vegetation becomes a protector and catalyst for new lives.
Another attraction for visitors will be the interactive installation Phonofolium by Scenocosme (Grégory Lasserre & Anaïs met den Ancxt). A living tree reacts to human touch with a sound, a voice. This ‘language’ is produced through contact and proximity to viewers, thanks to its electrostatic energy. The tree ‘sings’ when touched or lightly caressed by the public.
Additionally, the Nave Una Terrarium will host an exhibition of lettuces and local vegetable varieties, created by Ecosecha, a showcase of the diversity offered by gardens that reaches the table. In the same space, the seed exchange bank project will be presented, an initiative aimed at returning control of seeds to decentralization and targeting all those interested in exchanging knowledge about environmentally friendly agriculture in Madrid.
Biophilic Concerts
Each day will end with a musical performance related to the world of botany. For the opening on April 4, Biophest has planned a tribute to Mort Garson’s cult album Plantasia, created in 1976 to be enjoyed specifically by plants, with an updated version by the Donostia producer Divorce from New York.
On April 5, Scottish producer and DJ Brian D’Souza (also known as Auntie Flo) will present the natural and organic evolution of the LP Mycorrhizal Fungi, originally commissioned for the Glastonbury 2023 Hayes Mycelium Pavilion, in a live format under the name Mushroom Music.
As a finale, on April 6, artist Jordi Sapena, a member of La Habitación Roja, will present a live performance of his album Salve Monstera, a work that engages with human emotions through soundscapes that oscillate between electronic and organic.
Guided Tours to Natural Spaces
Among the free activities available to the public, with prior registration, Biophest has organized a series of guided tours and visits. ‘When the River Speaks’ is a biobotanical route along Madrid Río, organized by Carmen Haro and Josimar Castillo, to view the Manzanares River as a living being full of memories, a protagonist in the ecological and social history of the city. ‘Praise for Punk Gardening’ is another proposed route through Madrid Río and Arganzuela, where participants can explore gardens capable of breaking free from the established norms, with fewer resources, providing a sense of well-being and pleasure, guided by Malú Cayetano and Alberto Peralta.
Participants in the tour of the Crystal Palace in Arganzuela, ‘The Potato Ship, from forgotten warehouse to urban biophilic refuge,’ will discover, alongside Elena Páez, co-curator of the festival, this green oasis with over 9,000 species in the heart of the city where iron architecture merges with nature.
Children’s Activities
The Biophest festival also caters to a younger audience, with workshops designed for children aged six and above, such as ‘The Forest Challenge’ and ‘The Nature of Objects.’
Biophest, organized by Intermediae and Matadero Madrid, is sponsored by As Pedras, El Águila, and the Spanish Forest Certification Association (PEFC Spain), and curated by urban botany expert Elena Páez, cultural communication specialist Eva F. Cortés, and music curator Diego Fernández. This festival adds to the work around permaculture and critical ecology that has characterized the Intermediae program since its inception. /
Workshop tickets for adults are available at intermediae.es
