Ancient times
The burial site of Ca na Costa reveals the rites of the first occupants of the island, established on the island between 2000 and 1600 BC. Symbolic objects accompanied the deceased: carved buttons made of bone and shell, flints and fragments of engraved ceramics. These remains are housed in the Museu Arqueològic d'Eivissa i Formentera, in Ibiza.
The history and traditions of Formentera are traced in the Museu d'Ethnografia de Formentera. Organized by theme, the ethnological and cultural center shows, among other things, that the second half of the 20th century marked a turning point in local life... but which one?
Happy 1960's
Since the 1960s, artists and intellectuals from all over the world have participated in the emergence of a creative center on the archipelago. Formentera, like Ibiza, attracts creative minds who come to renew their inspiration in the turquoise expanses of the Mediterranean. Following in the footsteps of Pink Floyd, painters are being seduced by the wildest of the Pityuses.
Gilbert Herreyns. Herreyns, born in Brussels in 1943, fell in love with Formentera in 1969 and decided to set up his studio as a painter-engraver on the La Mola plateau. It was during this period that his famous geometric labyrinths were created, two-colored works that were used to decorate a Brussels subway station in the 1970s. Some time later, it was in Ibiza that he met the gallery owner Carl Van der Voort, with whom he began a collaboration that would motivate him to settle permanently in the archipelago. Herreyns lived between Brussels, Ibiza and Formentera. In 1979, he abandoned the labyrinths to devote himself to his repetitive works, a succession of symbols reproduced endlessly on canvas. It wasn't until 1981 that he built his famous Atelier Bleu in La Mola. For four years, he organized engraving workshops attended by artists and students from all walks of life. He then participated in the creation of the Artisan's Market
of La Mola where international contemporary artists were exhibited. In 1991, he flew to New York with the artist Michel Mouffe. During his American period, the spots and dots introduced into his painting replaced the repetitive "crossings" experienced in his Atelier Bleu. His return to Ibiza, three years later, marks the beginnings of his period of exalted brushwork in 1996, before his experiments with color that precede, in 2012, the integration of natural elements in his creation and the appearance of three-dimensional works. His works are regularly exhibited on the island.Michel Mouffe. Like his friend Gilbert Herreyns, Michel Mouffe was born in Brussels (in 1957) and set up his studio in La Mola. He discovered Formentera in 1986, a moment that he assimilates to an aesthetic trigger. His paintings, almost monochrome, however, hint at a presence, perhaps a face or a silhouette. Michel Mouffe presents in 2017 the exhibition Els Pelegrins, at the Municipal Exhibition Hall
(Ajuntament Vell), in San Francesc. Then in 2019, he unveils a series of paintings in tribute to the victims of Francoism shot on the island: A las cinco de la tarde. The event is held in one of the oldest houses on the island, located at the entrance to Sant Francesc Javier. This old farmhouse is destined to house the future museum of the island. Next ...Antoni Taulé. Catalan architect, painter and photographer, he was born in Sabadell in 1945. After studying architecture in Barcelona, Taulé, who was immersed in the artistic milieu of Sabadell in the 1960s, soon had his first painting exhibition. In 1970, he signed a project to build a hotel in Formentera, and took advantage of the opportunity to settle on the island. It was not until 1975 that he decided to devote himself fully to painting and photography. He then left Formentera to settle in Paris and begin an international career. The figurative work of Antoni Taulé is characterized by the representation of large spaces, between nature and architecture. On the canvas, stand out an object or a character, in a disturbing staging, where the shadow occupies a prominent place. The sets Shadow (1974), and Light of earth (1984-1988) - which take as a model the caves of Formentera - confirm the importance of chiaroscuro in the work of the painter close to the New Realism. Taulé liked to combine painting and photography. The Consell Insular de Formentera exhibited his series of silver prints highlighted with colored paint. In these works we find his sensitivity to the play of light and shadow, but also to perspective.
Places of exhibition
From May to mid-October, art markets feature everything made on the island. At the La Mola Artisan Market, quality paintings sit next to jewelry, baskets, and locally made clothing. Guaranteed to be a no-brainer. You can meet Firefox, a Berlin-based artist living on Formentera. He can be recognized by his long white beard, his multicolored hat and, of course, his paintings that combine tribal motifs and abstraction.
Formentera seen by... Karine Bartoli: the young visual artist fixes on canvas stolen moments, especially on the beaches of the Balearic Islands. Her series dedicated to Formentera is bathed in nonchalance, but with a certain tension. Bartoli exhibited at the Municipal Exhibition Hall (Ajuntament Vell). This venue, nestled in the town hall buildings, showcases the work of local and international artists throughout the year.
At the Centro Antoni Tur Gabrielet in Sant Francesc, it is possible to shop at the farmers' market on one side and visit the art gallery on the other. The painter Cynthia Díaz, born in 1987 in Asturias, is a regular visitor to the island and to this center. Her figurative works with a dazzling palette probe the relationship between landscapes and the elements water-air-earth.
Since 2019, the Espai cultural i educatiu Far de la Mola, at the lighthouse of La Mola, has exhibition rooms doubled with a renovated multipurpose space. Standing 120 meters above the sea, the lighthouse of culture spreads the heritage of Formentera in a symbolic building that carries far!
