Fallas Valencia 2024 - Child Falla Espartero-Ramon y Cajal

Artist: Fernando Foix.

Prize: 2nd special section.

Cost: 50.000 Euros.

"Josep is the protagonist. He sometimes forgets things because of Alzheimer's, but every wrinkle on his face hides a special memory.

His wife hugs him tightly. Hugs are capable of telling stories that sometimes not even words can.
Each part of this falla is a window to a memory you have experienced. From the spark the day he met his wife, to the leap his heart gave him when his children were born."

Child Falla Espartero-Ramon y Cajal 2024

"This is the story of Josep, a grandfather with Valencian heart and soul who has been forgetting things lately.
But today, as if it were a movie, he relives memories resulting from the hug with Amparo, his life partner.

"A: Today for lunch we will make salad, is that okay with you?
J: If there is no other choice... tomatoes today have no flavor, not like the ones I planted with my grandpa in the summers in the town. Grandpa Luis taught me love for the land and family."

"J: Cousin Vicente was always a master of mischief. That time at his uncle's farm was the best. An afternoon of laughter, a pig on the run, the memory of sweet chaos."

"J: The smell of bread still reminds me of when I went to buy a snack after school."

"A: Oh Josep, how I miss to ride a Vespa.
J: They were the best moments. The cool breeze, you laughing, lost on forgotten roads under the stars."

"A: Do you remember this song?
J: How to forget it? "It was the song that was playing when we met at the dance."

"J: I remember Professor Miguel as a beacon in my youth. He had a very particular accent with which he always told us stories full of life and wisdom."

"J: I worked as a painter for a large part of my life, I think I have painted all the houses in Valencia two or three times.
A: I don't think all of them, ours..."

"A: Between pedals and stages, the tour of Spain captivated him for hours.
J: I have always liked sport, especially on football Sundays, watching every goal of... Valencia celebrate."

"J: Are we really the ones in this photo? A: And so, it's our first vacation. Lost under the sun, in our old car, we saw the suitcases fly away and discovered that the only essential thing was us."

Sometimes I don't know who I am
"Sometimes I don't know who I am... I feel lost and surrounded by darkness like a castaway and I can't find the lighthouse, I can't find myself.
Sometimes I don't know who I am, and that's okay. Because not being well is also part of being alive, and because many times sinking and then finding the light is the best feeling there is.
Sometimes I don't know who I am, and those times are the ones that little by little have made me this way, they have made me who I am."

We are children of the stars
"We are all children, not only of our mothers, but also of the infinite cosmos.
Like stars in the immensity of the universe, each one of us shines with our own light.
Motherhood binds us to this earth and reminds us that we are part of an unbroken chain of existence.
In every hug, in every look, we rediscover the primal bond that unites us with each other, with the stars and with life itself.
We are children of the universe."