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In 2022, much of Al Rum's efforts were dedicated to organizing the events for the IV Centenary of the Oratory of the Castle. On the following page, you will find a quick overview of the initiatives we worked on last year.
The exhibition, directed by archaeologist Biel Llodrà and in collaboration with Francesc Lillo and members of Al Rum, aims to showcase the first findings made on the surface of Sa Bastida and shed light on the commercial relations maintained by its inhabitants with almost the entire Mediterranean.
The exhibition organized by Al Rum with the support of the Alaró City Council aimed primarily to protest and denounce the lack of action by the administrations responsible for the maintenance of the Alaró Castle. The exhibition called for urgent action from the government and public authorities to ensure the conservation and promotion of the historic site.
The book, "1652, Alaró under the plague", was presented by archaeologist and Al Rum member Marga Coll. The book offers new insights and documentary contributions on the plague epidemic that killed more than 300 people in the village in 1652.
The "Conquest of the Castle" is a a board game, an initiative for many years, a mix of Trivial Pursuit and Snakes and Ladders. It has 1,800 questions about the Castle, Serra de Tramuntana, history, characters, traditions, and geography of Alaró.
The recovery of the archives of Son Curt has been an invaluable source of the town's history. The association received all the documentation related to the Castle and Alaró Railway from the family, and has deposited it in the Municipal Archive.
The III and IV Centenary postcard collections combined twelve photos taken in 1922 with twelve current photos by Colau 'Lluka' and Andreu Quintana.
We presented a calendar initiative to the City Council that featured photos by Natasha Lebedeva.
We proposed and organised the programme for a special concert entitled "Virgini Mariae Gaudium et laetitia. Musical toast to the IV centenary of the Oratory". The organist Miquel Bennàssar created a musical event that spanned from the 13th century (the events of Cabrit and Bassa) to the 17th century (the construction of the Oratory).
The filmmaker and member of Al Rum, Andreu V. Clar, presented a thirty-minute short film using high-quality artistic images and very few words to describe the most important events that took place at the Castle. An extensive technical team from Barcelona and a group of actors from Alaró made this audiovisual miracle possible.
We set up a micro-exhibition at the Book Fair with texts by a variety of writers on the geography of the Castle and the historical events that took place there.
The September festival at the Castle was celebrated in a special way at the suggestion of Al Rum, thanks to the work of the Alaró Castle Foundation and its volunteers. The Bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, also attended.
Al Rum proposed and prepared a report for the Alaró Castle Foundation to negotiate with the Mallorca Council for the restoration of the 17th century murals of the Castle. The restoration work was carried out by art curator and Al Rum member Raquel Garduño.
The inauguration of an exhibition curated by Al Rum, which used videos, photographs and texts to denounce the degradation of the site's walls and water cisterns. Many of the images were taken using drones, which provided a unique perspective of the Castle.
Gabriel Llodrà, an archaeologist and Al Rum member, led school visits to the Castle, explaining its history and events.
Around 250 children participated in a drawing competition organized by Al Rum during the Sant Roc festival.
The curator and member of Al Rum, Raquel Garduño, has restored two paintings by Gabriel Reinés that the association acquired two years ago. In addition, last September Al Rum was presented with three new paintings by the artist.
Actions to clean up Sa Bastida continued with the participation of numerous volunteers, and agreements were negotiated with the local government and the property to begin excavations in 2023. Archaeologists Biel Llodrà and Jaume Servera presented the project and initial research results at the 9th Archaeology Conference of the Balearic Islands in Ibiza.
For years, Al Rum's participation in the Book Fair has not been limited to setting up a booth with books. We have also prepared micro-exhibitions to highlight various aspects of literature in Alaró.
Al Rum proposed to the Mallorca Council to analyse the possibility of buying the Sa Bastida estate in March. This site has significant heritage: history, patrimony, landscape and ethnological values, as well as important water resources. The document, which is over 100 pages long, was compiled by the geographer Francesc Lillo, the archaeologist Biel Llodrà and the engineer Myriam Viñas.
Al Rum contacted the president of the Balearic Government, Francina Armengol Socias, to inquire about the progress of the transfer of the Castle's walls to the Mallorca Council from the central Government and other bureaucratic obstacles. We received unofficial and discouraging information about this matter, but we will persevere and will not be deterred.
During 2022, every month, we published different types of puzzles on social media, such as word searches, identifying photos, finding mistakes, etc., as a way to promote knowledge of various aspects of Alaró.
You can find more detailed insights in the page "Resum d’activitats d’Al Rum durant l’any 2022" (in Catalan).