What to do today in Salou. Visit the outdoor leatherback turtle exhibit

Salou. Costa Dorada. 24 July 2024. Salou is committed to art and culture and that is why every summer it opens an open-air exhibition on Passeig Jaume I. This 2024 the proposal is a unique exhibition of 10 sculptures that reproduce leatherback turtles that, in turn, have been decorated by many other painters and illustrators. It can be visited until September 30.

The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is the largest species of sea turtle in the world, which can weigh up to 600 kilos and whose shell can measure up to 2 meters long. This species in serious danger of extinction appeared for the first time on the coast of Catalonia precisely in Salou in 1891, according to existing documentation.

This circumstance has encouraged the City Council of the capital of the Costa Daurada to propose to the sculptor Natàlia Ferré the production of 10 leatherback turtle sculptures made of fiberglass and, later, freely decorated by 10 painters, 3 of them local artists from Salou:

• Llorenç Cervelló, with the work “Olga”
• Myríam Arnold, with the work “Jardí de la Tortuga” i
• Josep Prous from RustikStudio, with “Tortuga llaüt contemporània”

At the opening of the exhibition, the mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, highlighted the uniqueness of the exhibition, which combines sculpture and plastic work by various authors, and highlighted the municipality's commitment to disseminating the work of local artists. Thus, he has announced that the City Council's desire is to invite other local artists to participate in the successive exhibitions that are promoted every summer on Paseo Jaume I.

Granados has also explained that when the current exhibition ends, the sculptures will be permanently located in various parts of the municipality to "enrich and decorate the urban landscape of Salou with art, which is culture."

For her part, the Councilor for Culture, Julia Gómez, has congratulated the artists who have made the exhibition of the leatherback turtles possible, for their creativity and for contributing to making residents and visitors enjoy culture and art in the street. .

Finally, the sculptor Natàlia Ferré has expressed her satisfaction at exhibiting in Salou and for carrying out this enriching project due to her collaboration with other artists. Ferré has also emphasized the importance of raising awareness, through the exhibition, about the beauty and fragility of our marine world.

The rest of the participating artists are:

• Pere Puig, with the work “Cicles”
• Lali Miró, with “Bressolant l’Aylan Kurdi”
• Joan Negrescolor, with “Natura social”
• Esther Voltà, with “The Mermaid”
• Elena Val, with “Músicas de fons”
• Geco, with “Awareness/Consciència”
• Asis Percales, with “Ninja Turtle”

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