Visual Arts
Visual Arts.
Since 2003 Orxeta has been organising a series of Days of Open Air Painting which, year after year, has become renowned as an important cultural-artistic event in the Marina Baixa Region.
At the beginning of spring, the proverbial tranquillity of Orxeta is interrupted for a few days by the hullabaloo of a legion of artists who convert its streets and squares into a grand festival of open air art.
This event, sponsored by Orxeta Council and with the collaboration of different groups, is a gathering point for hundreds of people. Special mention should be made to the students, teachers and professionals from two very prestigious (in the world of art) Elche institutions; the School of Painting Hort del Xocolater and the Association of Fine Art of Elche
To these should be added the great enthusiasm of the children from Orxeta, who give in their own way, with their humble pens and crayons, a great lesson in creativity, work and artistic professionalism, under the guidance of the invited teachers.
The aim of the art festival is to introduce to the general public something that at first sounds very pretentious; the process of artistic creation, the “magical” act of putting brush to canvass. The artists transfer their workshops outside onto the streets, and their easels take over the picturesque streets of Orxeta (which are closed to traffic for this event). They use as inspiration for their paintings one of an infinite number of motifs that adorn the Medieval buildings in the Old Town, or the famous Orxetan Cultivated land or the spectacular natural landscape that surrounds the valley on the banks of the river Sella.
The artists work without taking a break under the curious and watchful eyes of the local people, demonstrating without any “mysteries” or “secret formulas” and with total ease what their profession really involves.
As far as the artists are concerned this is an excellent exercise in which they can really work intensely to capture on canvas the different textures, colours and light of these splendid spring days that really make this event one to remember.
The event culminates in an open air presentation of the works in Orxeta’s main square, which is a prelude for an exhibition of these same works that is usually held the same year in September or October.
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