Welcome to O Castro Art Village!
The Project
O Castro Art Village is an experiment in rural regeneration. At its core it keeps three fundamental values:
- The betterment of our local and international communities.
- The wellness of mind and body on both individual and communal levels.
- The preservation of nature and depletable resources.
We believe that the answer to the problems of our age can only be reached through playful experimentation and togetherness of individuals from all walks of life. Hence, we have created a meeting place, where people with or without expertise can come together, immerse themselves in nature, learn by doing, exchanging, discussing, caring, and ultimately take miniature steps towards personal and communal enrichment.
Our Method
As our method we have chosen the vehicle of the arts and philosophy. We believe that arts and ideas belong to all and not just to the professional artists or intellectuals. Thus, we intend to democratize the arts and provide a chance for all to experiment and benefit from the ecstatic effects of poesies.
As our cradle we have chosen an idyllic abandoned village in the heart of Ribeira Sacra. We are rebuilding this village in various phases. This is our home and we intend to take care of it by applying the most environmentally responsible construction methods.
The nature that surround our village in second to none in its richness and beauty. We intend to keep it unspoiled through applying regenerative agriculture methods and replacement of foreign species with native the varieties. In the upcoming phases we will be harvesting regenerative energy, collect rainwater, and reduce our waste.
Your presence, contribution, collaboration, and stay at O Castro will provide us with the much-needed financial help in order to fulfil our goal and make this experiment a successful blueprint for more similar project to come into being. Hereby we salute you and welcome you to O Castro Art Village. May this be the beginning of a long-term friendship.
About Us
Davoud Gerami
Davoud Gerami is the founder and director of O Castro Art Village. He is a world traveller, a cosmopolite per se who sees the world as one entity without borders, a filmmaker who lives to break the “laws” of the cinematic art, a teacher who teaches dissent and questioning, and an engineer in the process of building for a better world.
As a traveller he has trotted the globe, as well as the world of ideas for decades with one goal in mind; to observe, make sense, and reflect on the condition of human-beings in the Anthropocene age, their interrelations and interactions with each other, as well as with other inhabitants of planet earth.
As a rogue filmmaker he has chosen the camera as his weapon to wax poetic and philosophize on the contradictions of our current civilization, documenting the injustices that incapsulate and influence us all inevitably; the biproducts of a class-based and expansionist structure.
As a teacher he has planted the seed of questioning and critique in many heads, while filling many hearts with the hope for a kind of love that is universal and borderless.
As a civil engineer, he has made it his mission to rebuild an abandoned village in the heart of Galicia, Spain, and turning it into a multidisciplinary centre for playing, experimentation, creativity and togetherness; all through the use of arts and philosophy.
Tatiana Alonso
Since she was a child, Tatiana Alonso has had a deep desire to discover the world and be in contact with other cultures. This yearning led her to study Translation and Interpreting, and today, she is fluent in five languages.
With her suitcase full of languages, dreams and an insatiable curiosity, she decided to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Her concerns and the need to learn about the reality of humanity led her to travel to different countries on several continents. Her travels were like a pilgrimage, weaving bridges where there were borders, nourishing herself with distant traditions, learning to respect what was different and searching for meaning in existence. In each country she found a home that offered her a new perspective and an opportunity to grow.
During her journey, her experiences made her interested in Eastern philosophies and she had the opportunity to train in different fields such as Hatha Yoga and community life (Om Shanti, Mexico), meditation and introspection (Oneness University, India), Integral Yoga (Mahashakti School, Spain) and Tantra (Tantra Pulse, Mexico).
Currently, she is dedicated to co-create and sustain O Castro Art Village, a project that is a seed of hope, a refuge for those who seek to reconnect with themselves and with others, a space to experience and grow in community.
