Encamp Unveils 72 Clay Masks in Lake Legend Art Exhibition

The Encamp parish council inaugurated the environmental art exhibition Els guardians del llac on Thursday along the Camí del Mig path by Engolasters Lake. Artist Pilar Montécino's temporary installation features 72 clay masks distributed over a 500-metre route, blending art with the landscape to highlight the site's legend of a village submerged by the lake's waters. The display runs from 1 July until 30 September.

Culture, Childhood and Youth councillor Joan Sans described the exhibition as an emotional experience, with the masks emerging from the surroundings. He congratulated Montécino on the "very magical" proposal, noting that each of the unique pieces uses only natural materials.

Montécino took nearly three months to craft the masks, adding powdered coffee and mate tea to help them merge into the environment. Each one conveys a distinct emotion, she said, creating an organic intervention. Having lived near the lake for more than a decade and walked its paths daily, the sculptor views the figures as ancestral presences she has made visible.

The works promote a conversation between art and nature, designed to change over time with wind and rain before fully reintegrating into the landscape. Three interpretive panels along the path offer details on the project and the legend.

Visitors are urged not to touch the masks or the trees they are part of, to ensure the pieces last through the exhibition period.