Ethnographic festival spotlights transhumance and shepherding challenges
The 15th Mostra de Cinema Etnogràfic de Catalunya devoted a session to transhumance, combining documentary screenings and a shepherd‑led discussion.
Key Points
- 15th Mostra de Cinema Etnogràfic de Catalunya held a session on transhumance and pastoralism at the old Radio Andorra building with about 50 attendees.
- Screenings included Veus transhumants and Camins de tradició, tracing routes, family farming change and the evolution of transhumance in Andorra.
- Shepherd Martí Pubill led a discussion on challenges facing high‑mountain shepherds: climate change, loss of generational succession, bureaucracy and tech shifts.
- Speakers recalled transhumance’s UNESCO intangible heritage status and stressed the need to maintain visibility and support for the sector.
The session highlighted how climate change, the loss of generational succession and rising pressures shape the future of traditional shepherding. The 15th Mostra de Cinema Etnogràfic de Catalunya, organised by Col·lectiu Eixarcolant, devoted Tuesday’s programme to transhumance and pastoralism. Held in the old Radio Andorra building, the event drew about fifty attendees and combined documentary screenings with a conversation with a local shepherd.
Xavier Fernàndez, the cònsol menor of Encamp, opened the event, saying transhumance is “an essential part of the country’s identity” and stressing the need to keep giving visibility and voice to this activity and its professionals.
The first screening was Veus transhumants, by Paula Escribano, an anthropological documentary that visits places such as Arens and Llessui and follows a seven‑day route between the Garrotxa and La Molina. The film examines changes in farming families, bureaucracy, seasonal work, communal land management, generational renewal and the current problems facing the sector.
The programme continued with Camins de tradició: la Transhumància a Andorra, by Sergi Pla and the Ethnography Archive of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Government. That documentary traces the evolution of transhumance in the Principality and recalls its recognition by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, a designation that underlines its contemporary value and relevance.
The session closed with a discussion led by shepherd Martí Pubill, which opened debate on the present state of extensive livestock farming and the challenges faced by high‑mountain shepherds amid technological change and global transformations.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: