Caminar, habitar y percibir Espadán. Arte, patrimonio y cultura visual como herramientas didácticas en la reivindicación del paisaje rural y de montaña

By the study of a mountain environment, Sierra de Espadán (Castellón, Spain), the aim is to explore relationships that through art, heritage -material and immaterial- and visual culture are generated between this particular space and the inhabitant or visitor. The result of these relationships is the value of the mountain environment and landscape, as well as a cultural approach to the rural world is produced. The main idea is to use art, artistic education, heritage and visual culture as intermediaries between the city and the rural environment, between the urban surroundings and nature. It is about seeing how these mediating elements reinforce the perception of the mountain landscape from multiple angles. From the most poetic -connected with ideas and philosophical concepts-, to the most pragmatic -related with ethnological aspects-, going through simple visual analogies, not by obvious less fascinating. We try to contribute to a new idea of ruralism, breaking with closed positions, prejudices and clichés established in both directions: city-countryside and countryside-city. Finally, the concept of "walking as an aesthetic practice" presents a way of becoming aware of space and appropriating it, which acquires a transcendental importance. It presents a way to understand the environment from observation and experimentation, favoring the creation of links from which to connect with the landscape. Keywords: art, nature, mountain, heritage, walk, rura