The enchanted cove

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© Col·lecció Aena d’Art Contemporani
The cover of Mètode’s latest issue is a fragment of The enchanted cove by the landscape painter Joaquim Mir. This Catalan artist was charmed by the magic of the Majorcan coves and painted different versions of the same cove in 1902.

Open myself to the sea, old fishermen,
Let the greenness come to me in a gust of air,
Let me have the light of boats and a pinewood
And let the sun make the plays of water transparent.
BLAI BONET. «The cove», Entre el coral i l’espiga, 1952.

Coves are the essence of the Mediterranean coastline. Their rocky outline and their sea corals have been used as an artistic motif by many painters, as well as writers and poets like Blai Bonet. Issue 74 of Mètode is but a curious and reflective look at the Mediterranean cove form a geographic, geologic and anthropologic point of view, as well as from an artistic and literary perspective. This heterogeneity of Mediterranean coves is reflected in the contents of Mètode’s latest issue, which, as Professor Jorge Hermosilla points out, is the product of the interest in knowledge and scientific plurality typical of the University of Valencia.

In turn, the monograph coordinated by Professor Emeritus of Geography Vicenç M. Rosselló analyses the geomorphology, the landscape and tourism of Mediterranean coves; not forgetting the more humanistic aspects that our coastline brings to mind. Because, as this specialist points out, there is no science without humanities: “geographers, too daring, go beyond the physical location and, because without humans there would be no science of the space around us, we have studied the evaluation of the coastal landscape in plastic arts, in literature and in economy”. Thus, The enchanted cove is an homage to the artist Joaquim Mira by three important Valencian artists such  as Rosa Torres, Eva Mus and Anna Sanchis.

Moreover, this issue includes highly topical features like “Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, or the palm tree eater”, which explains the consequences palm trees are suffering in the Valencia region due to a red palm weevil plague. We will also find and essay, written by Pilar Goya and María Luisa Jimeno, on the scientist Marie Curie; and another one on the cartoons on Charles Darwin that were published by the Spanish and the international press, written by Anna Mateu and Martí Domínguez, Mètode’s editor in chief.

© Mètode 2012.

 

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© Valentín Rodríguez
Cala del Xarco (Vila Joiosa), very common landscape in Ailcante.

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© Rosa Torres
«The enchanted cove» series, an interpretation of MIr’s original painting.

© Mètode 2012