‘The Succession of the Forest’ creation extends to the entire country the candidacy for the Andorra 2027 Alpine Skiing World Championships through the values of culture and sustainability

15 November 2021 · 18:50h

The sculpture, that has been created by the Andorran architect and artist Miquel Merce, is a project inspired by the Avet ski piste which is in the Soldeu sector of the Grandvalira ski area and it will be exhibited in the seven parishes

Encamp, Monday, 15th November 2021. Andorran architect and artist Miquel Merce presented 'The Succession of the Forest’ on Monday, a sculptural project that aims to enhance the candidacy for the Andorra 2027 Alpine Skiing World Championships through the values of culture, art and sustainability. In turn, he wants to extend the event to all parishes and their communities as it will no doubt be a historical milestone for Andorran sport and for the country in general.

Merce, who was the creator of the project 'Length' in 2015 within the Land Art biennial – which was made using white cloth of more than 200 metres in length that covered the Carroi scree, generating high levels of expectation-, has taken his inspiration from the candidacy logo to carry out this project and, most notably, on the Avet track (Soldeu), the stage where the competition will be held (together with the Àliga piste in El Tarter), if Andorra is in fact the candidacy chosen by the International Federation of Ski. The Avet, the artist detailed, symbolizes the flora and the exceptional natural environment in which the country's ski slopes are found. At the same time, La Avet ski piste symbolizes the robustness and the historic journey that the Grandvalira Soldeu El Tarter sectors have navigated to be able to celebrate important world sporting events. In addition, Merce added, the project "expresses the union that Andorran society has when facing shared challenges".

The project is made up of a concrete base and elements that we can find in the Andorran undergrowth, as well as a body in the shape of a tree adorned with a number of metallic pine cone representations, as an element that transmits the natural cycle of the forest. As for the trunk that supports it, this is made of corrugated iron.

Just like the candidacy for the 2027 World Championships, it is a global project, that comes from and belongs to the country (in line with the philosophy that has characterized all the international events organized by Grandvalira to date and that culminated in the successful World Cup Finals , in 2019). 'The Succession of the Forest' also aims to be a project that all the Andorran citizens can make their own. For this reason, it will have a roaming location through the seven parishes, exhibiting in the coming months in unique places in each parish and at the same time focal points, so that the project also attracts the attention of visitors. The first location, where it was presented today, is the Plaza de los Arínsols in Encamp.

From here, it will be exhibited to all the parishes and "it will be adapted to each location and environment, as required", Merce explained.

In addition, the sculpture is accompanied by an information pedestal with a QR code made by the Andorran company Parl’app, that has all the details of its creative process and final result, as well as the candidacy for the 2027 World Championships. The information is included in braille, 5 languages, audio, sign language and subtitling.

The Deputy Consul of Encamp, Joan Miquel Rascagnères pointed out that today's act "highlights two essential values: that of life in society and also the incredible positivity of this candidacy, the alliance between sport and culture".

For his part, the Managing Director of the Andorra 2027 candidacy, David Hidalgo explained that “the project must reach all corners of our country and what better way to do it than to reach the 7 parishes. What we were looking for was to display all of the characteristics that can be derived from a candidacy like this. We have the sports side, but also the cultural side, the accessibility side and also the sustainability side”.

The second life of ‘The Succession of the Forest’

Maintaining the values of sustainability that the Grandvalira Soldeu El Tarter sectors promote, that are applied to their facilities and which are defended in all their events and activities that they organize, the work is contemplated to be able to have a second life. It is made with reusable, recyclable or recoverable materials, also reinforcing the message of sensitivity towards the country's landscape. Therefore, the iron from the tree trunks will be recycled for use in the construction sector and the body (the pine cone) will be reused in the future once the host for the 2027 World Championships is made public by the FIS.

The next scheduled location for the exhibition will be from 6th December till the 26th in the Jardines de la Casa Pairal in Ordino.

Visual material here.