Third Margin Deepest Spring
November 10 – November 12, 2023
Córdoba, Spain

Design: Lana Jerichová.
Past
TBA21–Academy
Programming

EN / ES

“I’ve known rivers: / I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins / My soul has grown deep like the rivers” writes American poet Langston Hughes of the impermanence and interdependence of river streams, in their constant and continual change. Our origin stories, Hughes narrates, spring from many tributaries, converge, and extend onwards, sustained by the flux of time. What can rivers tell us about our roots and routes?

Deeply connected to the fragility of ecosystems and ecological balance, the belief systems of river valley civilizations traveled widely across historical and transnational boundaries to reach us today through song, poetry, and praise. How can the environmental histories of river valley civilizations, empires, nation states, and self-governed communities help us navigate some of the challenges that lie ahead of us? Bridging Ibn al-Arabi’s shoreless reach of the creative imagination with Hughes’ verses, the convening Third Margin Deepest Spring listens to our founding narratives—from the Yangtze and the Ganges to the Euphrates and the Nile and from the Guadalquivir to the Congo and the Mississippi—to develop a kind of conscious creative participation that can strengthen our collective symbolic agency.

Third Margin Deepest Spring responds to Hughes' call to root our souls “deep like the rivers” and offers subtle, sensorial, and experiential resources for understanding our interdependence with the watershed. A weekend-long and city-wide festival of performances, talks, meditation, river-walks, communal meals, music, and poetry along the banks of the Guadalquivir, Third Margin Deepest Spring brings together artists, anthropologists, chefs, dancers, poets, and metaphysical practitioners to surface different genealogies and trajectories of environmental thinking, and collectively re-imagine the socio-spiritual continuum that connects all planetary life.

The Spanish title of our convening “Un manantial entre dos aguas,” takes inspiration from the celebrated 1976 song “Entre dos Aguas” by the musician, composer, and flamenco guitar virtuoso, Paco de Lucía. Composed between Havana and the Andalusian ports, the song expresses a sonic continuum between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, embodying the sound and history of flamenco.
CURATOR
Sofia Lemos

 
CURATORIAL ESSAY
LOCATION
Claustro de los Abrazos Perdidos (Delegación Territorial de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía en Córdoba)
Plaza de Jerónimo Páez
Palacio de Orive
Centro de Visitantes
Plaza Don Luis Venegas (antiguo Museo Regina)
Estatua de San Rafael Arcángel (Puente Romano)
Molino de San Antonio
​Sotos de la Albolafia

All our venues and locations are publicly accessible, and all our events are free. Registration is only required for the Jesús Alcaide river-walk, which is limited to one group of 20 people (register here). Please bring water, weather-sensitive apparel, and suitable footwear for all outdoor events.
All events are in Spanish with simultaneous translation into English, except for the Isabel Lewis and Brooke Holmes conversation, which will be in English with Spanish translation.
 
WITH
Jesús Alcaide, Gracia Lopez Anguita, Mohamad Bitari, Elizabeth Gallón Droste, Mar Griera i Llonch, Lafawndah, Medina Tenour Whiteman, Caique Tizzi e Isabel Lewis con Guillermo Castro Buendía, Carlos López Campos, Javiera de la Fuente, Brooke Holmes, Helena Martos, Laila Tafur, y Rosario Vacas, among others.