ICTA-UAB researcher presents a film on the impact of mining

Teresa Sanz is part of the team of the project Clamor - Arts and Environment, led by ICTA-UAB, which investigates how artistic and multimedia creations in environmental conflicts represent and support transformative initiatives. 

The festival is focused on social good, to boost morale, find solutions to both our personal and global setbacks from COVID-19, create community and document the historical narrative of this time through art.  

The ARTS x SDGS Online Festival aims to be the most dynamic, artist-led event bringing together members of the growing creative economy along with UN/NGO actors in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is curated by professional artists who are leaders in their respective industries as well as experienced working with the UN/NGO sector. 

Teresa Sanz presented her 6-minutes film entitled “UNDER-GROUND ORE". Today, coal exploitation and trade are the major responsible of carbon emissions that cause climate crisis. In addition to that, it causes health and socio-economic impacts in local communities that live adjacent to the coal facilities, that fight every day for a healthy environment. In Chile, there are still 28 thermal power stations across the country. Most of them are located in, what is called, sacrifice zones. A sacrifice zone corresponds to a geographic zone —typically populated by low-income settlements— that was environmentally devastated due to industrial development. Such devastation has direct implications in the full exercise of people's fundamental rights: rights to life, health, education, work, food, housing, etc. In Chile there are still 5 sacrifice zones. 

“Under-ground ore” is a scenic action that address the socio-environmental devastation of one of the largest Sacrifice Zones in Chile: Quintero-Puchuncaví in Valparaiso Region. This short film is the result of a collective creation process developed in an art-action laboratory during February 2021, where local women and non-binary identities participated. This action was a unique opportunity to generate a place of encounter between neighbours. "Under-ground ore" is an expression of emotions and experiences of people living in such a polluted environment. It is a collective cry to recover the faith, power and voice lost during the long struggle defending the environment. 

This laboratory and video were directed by Teresa Sanz and is part of her research project on creative expressions and socio-environmental conflicts. In this chance, she collaborated with the theatre Collective “Teatro en movimiento Callejerx”. 

Watch it here