"A freshwater mermaid's song" [Canto de una sirena de agua dulce] by Juan Gallego Benot & Carmen Yruela
The Spanish residents selected for the programme Art Explora cross-residency present a final performance after a month of research and creation. The two artists' work explores how the sounds of traditional flamenco can be integrated into contemporary urban landscapes and spaces as sites for experimentation and critical reflection. The performance will be inspired by the myth and song of the mermaid; as a transmitter of a sense of dislocation - a freshwater mermaid who has no place in a strange yet familiar landscape.
All dates
"A freshwater mermaid's song" [Canto de una sirena de agua dulce] by Juan Gallego Benot & Carmen Yruela
The Spanish residents selected for the programme cross-residency program at the Art Explora festival present an exit performance after three months of research and creation. Juan Gallego Berno and Carmen Yruela's multidisciplinary performance explores themes of identity, memory and urban space. Fusing electronic music, traditional flamenco and visual arts, this project pushes the boundaries of conventional art forms. Collaborating with artists from diverse backgrounds, they create an immersive experience inviting the audience to reflect deeply on the contemporary world. The performance includes video projections, sound installations and choreographic interventions. They invite you to celebrate creativity and artistic innovation with them on this unique evening.
Through a continuous journey of sound and poetic experimentation, accompanied by visual projections, videos and translated texts, they will challenge the boundaries between tradition and modernity, while playing with ideas of "familiarity" and "strangeness". The result is a sensory exploration of a mermaid song both detached from its origins and rebellious to the conditions of its emergence.
Carmen Yruela and Juan Gallego Benot have spent years collaborating on the complex relationship between poetry and flamenco. Their work explores how the deep, resonant sounds of flamenco can be used to engage with and reflect on contemporary conditions, focusing particularly on modern landscapes and urban spaces. For them, these environments are not just physical places, but spaces of experimentation where traditional forms meet and interact with new critical perspectives. During their month-long residency in Tangier, Yruela and Benot dedicated themselves to the creation of a shared experimental space where visual, sonic and poetic resources converge. The culmination of their residency will be a performance that reflects the evolution of their collaborative process. At the heart of this performance is the tale of the "siren song", a theme that embodies both confusion and the opportunity to experience extraordinary clarity of sensation. The concept of the siren song, traditionally associated with temptation and mystery, is reimagined in their work as a "freshwater mermaid" - a figure at once familiar and displaced, navigating an environment that reflects her mythological origin yet feels strangely out of place. This dislocation symbolizes the tension between tradition and modernity, a key theme in their exploration. In this context, the siren song becomes a metaphor for how traditional forms like flamenco can be both rooted in the past and reinterpreted to challenge contemporary norms and expectations.
Their show will unfold as a continuous journey, an exploration both sensory and intellectual. Through a mix of live singing, poetry readings and projections of images, videos and translated texts, they will create an immersive experience that embodies the concept of a siren song that has been dislocated, decentered and turned against the conditions of its own emergence. The juxtaposition of tradition and experimentation will be at the heart of this journey, as they probe the ways in which flamenco and poetry can respond to and critique the modern world. By presenting the siren's song as something both known and unknown, Yruela and Benot invite the audience to discover the familiar in a new and unsettling light. The presence of the freshwater mermaid in an urban landscape serves as a metaphor for how traditional art forms can adapt and transform, becoming vehicles for new meanings and critical reflections. The performance will not only showcase the artistic process that evolved over the course of the residency, but also offer a commentary on the fluidity of identity, culture and artistic expression in a rapidly changing world.
Carmen Yruela (Seville, 1998) is a flamenco singer and flamenco singing teacher at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Jaén. She began her artistic career at the age of seventeen in the tablaos and peñas of Seville. Blending tradition and modernity, she is renowned for her interdisciplinary approach. She has performed in Uzbekistan (2022), Argentina (2023) and Estonia (2024). A member of the techno-flamenco group Ciervoss since 2021, she is currently preparing her first album with Hartta.
Juan Gallego Benot
Juan Gallego Benot (Seville, 1997) is a writer, doctoral student and contemporary art critic for the El País newspaper. Author of the poetry collections Oración en el huerto (2020) and Las cañadas oscuras (2023), he has published the essay La ciudad sin imágenes (2023). His academic research focuses on rhetoric and modernity. He teaches at the Autonomous University of Madrid and the University of Groningen. His poems have been set to music by Iñaki Estrada. He has taken part in a number of renowned literary and artistic festivals.
Practical information
Address
Port of Tangier - Opposite Bab El Marsa, Tangier, Morocco
Accessibility
Dates and times
Thursday, September 26, 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Safety
Visit itinerary
EXPERIENCES On board
Immersive exhibition "Présentes
Created in exceptional collaboration with the Musée du Louvre, this exhibition offers a reflection on the role and representation of female figures in the Mediterranean world, through an educational and sensory experience based on digital audiovisual technologies. The exhibition is divided into two parts:
- An educational documentary on the aft deck
- An immersive exhibition at the heart of the catamaran
A sound journey in the Mediterranean by Ircam
Through a Sound Odyssey, Ircam and Ircam Amplify invite visitors to explore the sensations of the Mediterranean and discover new soundscapes, both imaginary and real.
© Elisa Von Brockdorff
The artists
Frequently asked questions
Yes, the boat is freely accessible on site. However, you can pre-book your time online on our website.
For reasons of safety and preservation of the boat, high heels and stilettos may not be worn on the boat.
The museum boat is open to all free of charge. To find out on which quay it will be moored, or to pre-book your slot, consult the page dedicated to your town.
Appropriate facilities have been set up on the Festival site for the reception and access of people with reduced mobility. The boat is equipped with a 1m-wide ramp, accessible to people with reduced mobility, but may require the accompaniment of a third party due to its gradient of over 6%. Access to the aft deck and immersive exhibition is possible. However, the upper deck is not accessible. Please inform us in advance of any special accessibility requirements, so that we can make the necessary arrangements.