The Plaça del Llibre is the largest showcase for literature in Valencian, with authors and publishers from all over the linguistic area represented. The Plaça is a celebration of the daily work of authors, booksellers and publishers, and an opportunity to meet with readers.

From 27 October to 1 November, L'ETNO Library will be participating in the Plaça del Llibre to recommend readings about the Valencian imaginary of fear for young and old, and about other more contemporary fears that frighten us when we are older. We will also present two publications that are very present in our library about fears:

1 November, at 12.00 noon.
Missing or dying, a catalogue on loss
Presentation with Raquel Ferrero and José Mª Candela, curators of the exhibition, and Eusebio López, designer.

1 November, at 1 p.m.
A vermouth of fantasy with the Unfinished Guide
Presentation with Joan Borja, Francesc Gisbert, Víctor Labrado, authors of the Guia inacabada de la fantasia valenciana, and Amparo Pons, librarian of L'ETNO.

Almudena Francés, the author, will tell us and teach us how to tell tales, and Marc Bou, the illustrator, will perhaps draw a bogeyman. In any case, the presentation of the new story in the collection "Espanta la por" will be great fun.

Almudena Francés is dedicated to telling and listening to stories but also to life stories, riddles, tongue twisters, she does it from the Vall d'Albaida, because her stories are linked to a specific territory, although she also tells the stories from far away as if they had happened in the Vall d'Albaida, because stories know no borders. What she is most proud of in her work is the Contes a la Fresca project, in which a local storyteller has storytellers who are professionally dedicated, transmitting a way of being and existing in the world and giving anchors for people to hold on to.

Marc Bou has a degree in Fine Arts from the Universitat Politècnica de València. During his studies he already shows interest in different artistic fields. He collaborates as a comic artist and scriptwriter for the fanzine Cinco and participates in different roles in different short films, one of which, Hasta que la muerte te separe (Until did do you part), received the award for best photography at the Ciutat de Castelló short film festival. He has worked in various fields, from muralist and designer to illustrator of album covers and storyboards. During 2013-2014 he held a travelling solo exhibition entitled Versos en blanc i negre/Il-lustrant a Estellés (Verses in black and white/Il-lustrating Estellés). He is the author of the illustrations for the Guia inacabada de la fantasia valenciana (The Unfinished Guide To Valencian Fantasy) (L'ETNO, 2022) and the Calendari Fantàstic for 2024. 

Other titles in the collection Espanta la por:

• Núm. 1 Marta y la Tarasca (Marta and the Monster) (2018)
• Núm. 2 Marta es un duende (Marta is a Fairy) (2019)
• Núm. 3 El hombre de las narices (The Man of Noses) (2020)
• Núm. 4 Bienvenida Quarantamaula (Welcome Quarantamaula) (2021)
• Núm. 5 ¿Soy una bruja? (Am I a Witch?) (2022)
• Guia inacabada de la fantasia valenciana (The Unfinished Guide To Valencian Fantasy) (2022)

The Open House Valencia -OHV- festival is a privileged rendezvous between the city and its most prized architecture. A multitude of buildings open their doors, displaying their functional, typological and formal uniqueness. The capital of the Turia thus joins other great metropolises such as New York, Milan, Athens, Lisbon,... inviting all members of the international community to explore the collective space, entering the architectural universe to enjoy the richness of its history and cultural diversity.

Open House Valencia is a multidisciplinary project that is open to everyone and was created with the aim of helping people to live and enjoy the architecture, landscape and urban art of the city by promoting new ways of contemplating and inhabiting it.

It is a non-profit and cross-cutting initiative based on social cohesion and the participation of the greatest number of urban actors: students, young people, professionals, technicians, artists, musicians, shopkeepers,...

For a weekend, infrastructures, squares, gardens and buildings can be visited and explained by the architects and designers who conceived, transformed, restored and made them possible.

La Beneficencia joins this year's event and opens its doors with special visits:

21 October 2023: 10 am. Guided visit by Joan Seguí (director of L'ETNO), María Jesús de Pedro (director of the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia) and Rafael Rivera (architect responsible for the restoration of La Beneficencia Cultural Centre). Free access until full capacity is reached.

21 and 22 October 2023: The rest of the day's visits will be open to the general public, with free access until full capacity is reached.

This workshop will explore the intriguing idea of the city as a living entity or large organism in constant evolution. It will focus on the city of Valencia as a case study and will analyse the process of transformation of urban space and reflect on the amenities that are often taken for granted today, comparing them to the responsibilities that the city had towards its residents in the past.

To help better understand the city, we will use the museum's cabinets, which will become real territories full of puzzles and surprises. In addition, participants will be provided with a booklet of Etnoviaje activities that will allow them to delve even deeper into the cultural and social fabric of Valencia.

This workshop is designed for children from 6 to 11 years old and promises to be an educational and fun experience for the participant. We are waiting for you to embark on this exciting journey of urban exploration!

Once again this year, the Espanta la por campaign is here to release our fantastic imagination with activities of all kinds, both for adults and for children. And as every year for the last eight years, we are not alone, we are accompanied by many local ethnological museums, libraries and Valencian schools!

This year we have something new: as well as being in the real world, we have also entered the world of podcasts. Espanta la por 2023 is the birth of The names of fear, the first podcast of L'ETNO in which we will reflect on the fears of adults, the fears of Valencian people, and we will be accompanied by Valencian podcasters on this four-programme journey, in Valencian, to talk about monsters, legends, literature, death... You are invited to the recording of some of the programmes, but please let us know that you are coming, lest you don't leave room for monsters and imagination!

Of course, we will also enjoy many activities in the "real world", which we are sure you will like very much. Come and have a great time in our space to scare the fear away!

Check out the programme!

Workshop aimed at a family audience (children from 4 years old with adults) and which forms part of the programme of TAC! Festival of Urban Architecture.

This workshop will reflect on the uses of squares and invite participants to imagine how to achieve a more habitable, green, dynamic and child-friendly environment.

We will debate about which aspects of traditional Valencian society we can rescue, not only when it comes to building structures, but also when it comes to relating to each other.

To build our ideal square, participants will create models with natural and recycled materials, following the principles of sustainable architecture. 

What if we go back to the street to "prendre la fresca"?

This workshop is part of the TAC! programme, an annual festival organised by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda in collaboration with the Arquia Foundation, which promotes innovation and experimentation in architecture through the construction of a temporary pavilion in different cities throughout Spain.

The festival brings together contemporary architecture, young practice, reflection on the urban and the social through meetings and cultural activities around the pavilion in which they will dialogue with the citizens.

Granada is the city that hosted the first edition of TAC! in 2022.

The second edition of TAC! takes place in September 2023 and the host cities are Valencia and Donostia-San Sebastian. Both proposals open a reflection on the role of architecture in the challenges facing the urban environment in the current context of climate emergency.

Through a story about winter, in each session we will try to explain what the changes of season mean in our daily lives. In addition to the explanation of the story, we will use multimedia material. With it, we will be able to see the changes in the landscape according to the different seasons and also with several images of pieces from the museum, we will be able to discover things about the past and present daily life in each season.

The workshop explores, through painting, the chromatisms, shapes and importance of the Jardines del Túria on its 35th anniversary, in order to highlight the value of this green lung and learn about its past. Using different techniques and in a collaborative way between adults and children, we will create a work of art that they will be able to take home.

The bogeyman is part of the imaginary of fantastic characters that have frightened children. In different cities and towns, the legends change, but... Did the bogeyman really carry children away? What if it wasn't true? Why does he walk around with only a sack on his back? What does the bogeyman carry inside his sack?

We take advantage of the fact that our character has gone out and we look inside his sacks. We discover the thousand and one ways we can play with sacks. I'm sure you didn't know that the bogeyman had so many surprises in store.

Calendar, timetable and form of access:

For families: Sundays 15, 22 and 29 October and 5 November, at 12 noon. Tickets available from the Thursday before each workshop through www.letno.es.
For schools: Tuesday to Friday, from 17 October to 3 November. More information: 963 883 578 - didactica.etnologia@dival.es

Not so long ago, plants, stones or reeds were materials used for work and reused to make tools, toys, etc. Fem de colors is an activity in which, instead of using elements from nature, we will take care of it by reusing everyday waste that endangers both the environment and those who live in it, creating our good luck pendant in homage to nature. We can wear it and hang it wherever we like, reminding us of the importance of our consumption and waste management.

To improve the workshop experience and to have more options to make beautiful things, if you want you can bring from home plastic bottles and caps, straws... anything plastic that you are not going to use and that you want to give a second life to.