We are, at last, entering the home stretch in the work for the EmpordàNA’T exhibition.

My role in this – in my opinion – grandiose project is to multi-task: original idea, content, concept, images and texts. Fortunately, I have worked in close harmony with Eric Milet, a master of graphic design, spaces, branding, naming and, above all, organization.

And timing, which is the hardest thing of all to control!

I’ve been lucky too to come across on the way other excellent people such as the incombustible Guille Góngora, who has organized the exhibition space. Likewise, I’m thankful to Abdon Jordà for helping solve problems with the models, to Mike Lockwood for his precise English translation, and to numerous collaborators including photographers and photographic ‘extras’, as well as to many friends and family. And, of course, nothing would have been possible without the positive spirit of the natural parks involved!

The posters are at the printing press – Roger, in Figueres – where they have treated this megaproject with the respect it deserves and it will soon be open to the public in the Ecomuseu-Farinera in Castelló d’Empúries.

EmpordàNA’T will be – rather, is about to become – a permanent exhibition in which visitors can get a taste of the Empordà’s protected areas and discover their rich natural and cultural heritage, the products of its soils and the leisure activities on offer. Four protected areas in one!

In all, a vast panorama of almost 70 m in length unites the landscapes of the four natural parks in L’Empordà. Over 40 days of fieldwork were needed to take the photographs, as well as I’ve-no-idea how-many-and-don’t-want-to-know days (weeks and months) of projections, concepts, design, writing of texts, meetings, retouching of photographs, illustration and painting.

The project was made possible by the energies of Anna Colomer, when she was in charge of public use in the Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Natural Park. Now, she has started her own new project, a small hotel in Castelló d’Empúries, Casa Clarà, which blends the best of the town’s past with ‘feel’ that it is expected of the tourism of the twenty-first century.

I’ve painted a fish! And you too can do it!

The campaign Paint a Fish, promoted by a number of European NGOs (New Economics Foundation, Greenpeace, WWF and OCEANA, amongst others), aims to call people’s attention to the need to change European fishery policies. It strikes me as a difficult challenge … but trying won’t do any harm!

The campaign coincides with the final negotiations for the Common Fisheries Policy, which take place every ten years, and is an excellent opportunity to make a decisive contribution to the promotion of sustainable fishery in Europe.

Paint a Fish is also an educational project that uses pedagogical material adapted to different age groups to help teachers and parents alike to tackle the subject of sustainable fisheries at school and at home.

I’ve drawn a tuna fish, as always faithful to (or trapped by?) my naturalistic style, using the tools available at www.paintafish.org. Here you have an example of the illustration process.

If you want to support and enlarge the call for a new, wiser way of managing our seas and fisheries, share the campaign and do Paint a Fish!

Si vols donar suport i fer més gran encara el clam per una nova manera de tractar el mar i els recursos pesquers, comparteix la campanya i pinta un peix!