Atrapa sons

What does it mean to hear a breath? We listen to the breathing of the people we love, of those who sleep and we want to watch over. Or that of those who, fragile or vulnerable, need our silence to rest and heal.

Catch sounds wants to hear the breath of the Ebro Delta through a unique object: the busson. Between December and March, this tool spends the nights submerged in the waters near the mouth of the Ebro. It is a fishing trap that, with a small light, attracts inside a very precious fish: the breeding of the eel – the eel or eel.

This exhibition imagines how the traps breathe the night of the river, an orchestra of sounds and jokes engraved from the Balada dock, within the framework of the Eufònic/Lo Pati residence 2025. Inside, an image moves: the tremor of the moon on the water. Tradition says that on full moon nights there is good fishing of eels. Here, the moon brings us in, turning the object into a space; a trap and, at the same time, a refuge that breathes and dreams.

Before the other’s sleep, we remain silent. Let’s whisper. Let’s watch. Like someone walking on a glass that can be broken with a noise. This is what fishermen call ‘do not troop’. The sounds and images of the sleeping busson also teach us to ‘do not tropell’: a form of care and attention that speaks not only of the fragility of the eel fishing, but of the vulnerability of the entire Delta: a wounded territory that continues to breathe under our eyes.

This project was made possible thanks to the trust and generosity of Marcel·la and Marcel – the owners of the bussons and fishing lights – together with the collaboration of the Fishermen’s Guild of Sant Joan.