The ´soltano´ means the basement in Spanish and in la tabacalera this is the area where once the raw tabacco and the finished products were kept. Although the tobacco company that operated from La tabacalera was the oldest in the world this building was built later between 1780 and 1792 as part of the Bourbon policy to urbanize the Royal factories of Madrid in the southeast sector of the city.
The basement is made up of a myriad corridors with storage areas on either side and approximately two thirds of this area is still closed. It´s appearance at the moment is quite scary and dark if your not used to the place or even if your are it can creep you out a bit.
In this area of La tabacalera there are several collectives which are mainly bands rehearsal studios, unfortunately the areas outside the studios are neglected and the purpose of this ongoing installation is to begin a process where the available areas are used to exhibit art work in the form of installations or graffiti art. In October 2013 an exhibition was organized in the basement which was basically a graffiti symposium.Hopefully this is the first in a series of events to regenerate the basement.I felt that the installation would work well in this enclosed space with the arches suggesting trees and I liked the idea of putting something quite delicate in such an industrial space.
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