PICUDO - On going
Material research project
Palmwood
Picudo investigates the ecological, material and cultural consequences of the Red Palm Weevil epidemic in Spain. Since its arrival from North Africa in the early 2000s, the insect has spread across the peninsula, devastating thousands of Canary Palm trees and transforming landscapes that have long been embedded in the country's visual identity.
The project approaches the dead palm trunk not as waste, but as a material in transition. Often discarded due to the costs associated with its extraction and processing, palm wood remains largely unexplored despite its unique structural and aesthetic qualities. At the same time, the Canary Palm carries a history of displacement. Its circulation between Spain and Latin America through colonial and migratory exchanges reveals a broader network of movements, adaptations and transformations that continue to shape both territories and landscapes. Through material experimentation and object-making, Picudo explores the remains of this ongoing epidemic as a lens through which to examine questions of resource value, ecological change and cultural memory. The project proposes palm wood as both a material resource and a record of the complex relationships between species, geography and human intervention.