Concierto de Invierno de agua y viento, bajo los auspicios horoscopales de Capricornio-Acuario-Piscis (Winter Concert of Water and Wind, Under the Horoscope Auspices of Capricorn–Aquarius–Pisces)

A pioneer of conceptual and ephemeral art in 1970s Spain, Paz Muro’s work has a playful tone aimed at social criticism and gender stereotypes associated with femininity. On 23 February 1981, while the attempted coup d’état was occurring in the Congress of Deputies, Muro staged this critical performance against power in the auditorium of the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, MEAC (Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art), in collaboration with the Mundane Music Workshop directed by Llorenç Barber and Fátima Miranda. Conceived as a winter concert and taking advantage of the museum’s location in Madrid’s Ciudad Universitaria district, it was based on the hedonistic idea of the pre-Socratic symposia, in which teachers and students conversed and debated over food, drink, poetry recitals and music. It thus became a space of freedom, symbolising the values of democracy. The event stood out for its originality and syncretism, fusing cultural elements from various traditions. With the space decked in winter foliage, music was played on wind and string instruments but also using objects such as water buckets and clay pots. The interval featured a parade of shepherdesses leading goats, while at the end, the audience sang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, The Pastoral.