Pedagogy of waters

Plaza del Padró, Raval (Barcelona). Foto Samuel Aranda.

“I will tell you something about stories – he said
They aren’t just entertaiment, don’t be fooled
They are all we have, you see
all we have to fight off illness and death
You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories
Their evil is mighty, but it can’t stand up to our stories
So they try to destroy the stories
let the stories be confused or forgotten
They would like that. They would be happy
because we will be defenseless then”
.
(Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony, 1977)

  • In the neighborhood of Verdum (Nou Barris, Barcelona), in 2003, we developed workshops with children between 5 and 7 years old, based on the study of water myths and legends of different cultures. We like to call “Pedagogy of waters” some kind of utopia we thought we saw during these workshops: the realization of a desire of flooding, the practical application of a dream, of which we just perceived some fragments… Luca Rossomando, Stefano Portelli, Carola Pagani. Pedagogia delle acque. Rain, sea, desert. [Original book (italian), PDF] [spanish translation, PDF]
  • In march 2011 the archbishop of Barcelona threatened of excommunication Father Manel Pousa, founder of Esplai de Nou Barris. Sign the petition of support!