Ibizology

Emma Salahi is co-producer of a new Ibiza photobook featuring the work of the famous Spanish photographer Oriol Maspons. He visited Ibiza from the 1950’s to the 1980’s and captured the essence of the hedonistic side of the 1980’s, as well as the traditional side of island life. Emma sifted through 500 of Oriol’s images to choose a selection which are full of humour, fun and laughter. Emma also runs the Ibiza-based art gallery Agony and Ecstasy.

With Ibiza being such an important trans-Mediterranean trading post since the Phoenicians set foot on the island, the seas around the island contain a real treasure trove of ship wrecks. Marine archaeologist Enrique Aragon spends much of his time exploring the area and in this interview reveals how important these remains are for our understanding our island’s history. His work also shows how Ibiza was part of a sophisticated trading system stretching from the UK to North Africa and the Middle East.

'Voyage and Discovery' by Conor O'Brien is an account of the sailor and travel-writer's journey by boat to the White Isle where they moored up in Ibiza harbour for almost a year in 1932. His vivid descriptions of town and country life, as well as the landscapes of the island, are quite riveting. Ibiza's Barbary Press has just brought out a new edition of the book and in this episode I'm joined by publisher Martin Davies. You can meet Martin and other distinguished speakers at the official launch: 7.30pm on 20 December at Sa Nostra Sala, Carrer d’Arago 17, Ibiza Town.

Regular Ibizology listeners will, by now, be very familiar with the Ibizology intro/outro music. This haunting music was recorded in the 1950’s in Ibiza by the American ethnomusicologist, Alan Lomax. My guest in this episode of Ibizology is the editor of Alan’s Spanish collection of folkloric music. She has developed a deep understanding of Ibiza’s traditional music and how it fits into the family of folk music around the world.

For almost 100 years Ibiza’s club Nautico has stood in the city’s harbour, not far from the Formentera ferry terminal. The club, an institution much-loved by Ibicencos, has seen the area around it transformed, modernized and commercialized in tandem with much of the rest of the island. Now the same powerful forces which have altered so much of Ibiza are circling this place. Plans have been drawn up which could see the club close and this last bastion of traditional Ibiza in the port, crushed to make way for more millionaires. For this special episode of Ibizology I visited the offices of club Nautico to meet Vicent Canals Riera, the club’s director general. Martin Davies - the original Ibizologist - translates my questions into Spanish and Vicent’s answers back to English. Please come to Club Nautico at 730pm on Friday 9 December for Pirate Island, a celebration of boats, books and buccaneers from the Phoenicians to Club Nautico. Martin will be speaking along with some other experts. €10 entry on the door.

The artist, philosopher and musician Dominique Sanson is perhaps most famous in Ibiza for his panel of paintings which depict Ibiza’s from pre-history until modern times. But his art goes way beyond these, with his unique style depicting many topics which highlight the beauty of the island and its inhabitants as well as his sufist beliefs. You can see many examples of his different styles of art by visiting dominiquesanson.com In this interview Dominique describes his early life in Paris where he was a student just as the 1968 riots broke out. His life in Ibiza brought him into contact with the hippy culture which he admires to this day, and opened his mind to a philosophy of humility, openness and love. He says “several times i left ibiza forever but I’m hooked, I’m an addict.” Ibizology image by Vicent Calbert; courtesy of Bar Costa, Ibiza.

With invasive snakes out of control in Ibiza, and local lizards heading for extinction, British-Australian Dean Gallagher has battled to return the island to its previous snake-free state. This has not been easy for Dean, who suffered nightmares about snakes in the early part of his campaign. Even now he performs a ritual to calm each creature before killing it, and says he would prefer to export them back to the mainland if this were permitted. Dean describes vividly the impact snakes have had, with some parts of the island now denuded of birds and lizards, where the only sound is the slithering and hissing of snakes hiding in the undergrowth. I met Dean at a finca near Santa Eularia where the gentle giant had just rescued a drowning baby rabbit from the pool.

Women have suffered as second class citizens in most traditional, patriarchal societies around the world and Ibiza was no exception. Females had far fewer freedoms and rights than men and were often excluded from secondary education right up until the 1970s and ‘80s. However there was one moment in a woman’s life when she was in control of her destiny, and exerted power over her family and the males she came into contact with - the period between the start of her courtship and the moment she got married, including the rituals of dancing. This extraordinary and unusual aspect of traditional society is believed to be unique to Ibiza and Formentera.

Vicent Palermet is one of Ibiza’s foremost experts on landscape history and traditional agricultural practices. We have a fascinating conversation where he describes the evolution of the rural landscape and agriculture since Bronze Age times. He also explains why agriculture has declined and his hopes for the future. Let’s join Vicent at an ancient finca called Ses Hisendes de Cala de Hort where we sat in a field on logs next to a fire where he was clearing and burning scrub.

The delightful André Quidu is a famous Ibiza character, whose warmth and humour brings a smile to the face of every customer at Croissant Show, the French bakery and café in La Marina, Ibiza. I was so pleased that André agreed to be interview in late December, and it was just in the nick of time as you will hear. The moustached bon viveur has been in Ibiza for four decades, and his love of the island and its people is infectious.

Pine Tree Island is a new novel by the author Ben Dunwell, set in the dawn of Ibiza’s settlement by the Phoenicians around 650BC. In this interview Ben describes how he became a writer, as well as the highs and lows of the creative process. The podcast was recorded before Christmas and since then, Pine Tree Island has become available on Amazon for international readers, as well as in local bookshops.

Professor Francesc Calafell’s research on genes shows how closely connected Ibiza’s native population is to the Catalan invaders of the thirteenth century. In this fascinating episode of the Ibizology podcast Francesc goes on to describe how the people of Spain are more closely related to settlers from the Russian steppes 4,000 years ago than to any subsequent invaders such as the Romans and Moors. These incomers did not intermarry on a large scale, leaving the original genetic pool intact. “What we get at is the history of the people, not the history of the kings and queens,” he says.

The matanza, or slaughter of the pig, is an ancient rural tradition in Ibiza which would bring together the local people each winter. Killing the pig and preparing the meat was a labour-intensive process which took a day or more and was followed by a night of celebration and feasting. A new exhibition by the publisher and historian Martin Davies brings the matanza to life through the photographs of the German Gustav von Estorff, who came to Ibiza in 1933. I recorded this interview at the exhibition which is on at Ses Arcades restaurant just outside San Juan until the 31st of July. Joining me are local man Jordi Planells who has witnessed matanzas and Martin Davies. To order "Ibiza: A Hundred Years of Light and Shade" visit https://www.liveibiza.com/ibiza_literature/hundred_years.htm or e-mail mpodavies@gmail.com

The lost lizards of Ibiza are now a sad fact of life across most of the island of Ibiza. Snakes, first spotted in 2003, are the culprit. They arrived amongst the roots of olive trees imported from the mainland to satisfy the fashion for Mediterranean gardens. Now, thanks to the efforts of Elba Montes, a PhD student, the annihilation of the lizards has been measured for the first time. The sad plight of the iconic lizards is now slowly rising up the political agenda. But Elba fears the lack of action so far could mean lizards will become extinct in just a few years.

In this episode you’re going to meet the architect Rolf Blakstad who has just published, in English, his father Ralph's amazing book which links traditional Ibizan finca design back more than 2000 years to the Phoenicians who settled here from what is now Lebanon. Rolf’s father spent decades roaming the island’s countryside, measuring, drawing and recording the architecture just as the forces of modernity were changing the island forever. The result is a book full of beautiful, detailed. Line drawings, photos and text demonstrating how it was identical to the archtecture he had seen in North Africa and the middle east.

The ecologist and environmental campaginer, Chris Dews, is famous in Ibiza as the founder of Casita Verde near St Jose, which he started in 1993. Chris and teams of volunteers have transformed the place into a model for living with minimal environmental impact. He dreams of one day doing things on a much grander scale on a different site, and has his eye on the vacant land next to Cafe Mambo for a project he calls EcoLandia. As a young man, Chris spent many years in the merchant navy. He ended up in Ibiza quite randomly when he needed to get out of the UK at short notice and found the last flight left in his local trave agent was to the white isle. Chris is an original thinker. He certainly isn’t against partying on the island, but believes you should earn the right to do so after a hard day’s volunteering. Tourism doesn’t need to stop but should be totally redefined.

The historian, archivist and politician Francesca or Fanny Tur Riera is in charge of the official historical archives of Ibiza and Formentera, which contain documents going back more than 800 years. As well as her work with the archive, Fanny has been politically active, championing the importance of Catalan culture and as a minister for culture and sports for the Balearic islands. Fanny is a respected historian. Two of her publications caught my eye and led to some thought-provoking conversation, as you’ll hear. Her work on the bubonic plague in Ibiza resonates today as the island fends off covid-19. I was surprised to learn that there are quite a lot of similarities between today’s coronavirus pandemic and the epidemic which swept the island in 1652. We also discuss Fanny’s work on the role of women in Ibiza, highlighting how there is still a long way to go to on the road to equality in what is still quite a machismo culture despite improvements over the centuries. I interviewed Fanny at the spectacular archive building in Dalt Vila. You’ll find pictures of this and some of the documents we examined by linking up with Ibizology on Facebook or Instagram. Let’s join Fanny as she tells me how her career as Ibiza’s archivist began.

In this episode the writer, publisher, and original Ibizologist, Martin Davies, helps us to bring alive some of the characters living in Ibiza in the 1960s. We delve deeper into the enigmatic figure of Elmyr de Hory, possibly the twentieth century’s greatest art forger. You’ll hear Martin challenge one by one what I had assumed to be the basic facts about Elmyr’s life. Next we take a look at some of the other figures surrounding Elmyr at the time. The novelist Clifford Irving, wrote the biography which catapulted Elmyr into the limelight. But Clifford was himself a faker who went to prison for writing a book which he claimed was the authorised biography of the reclusive millionaire Howard Hughes. Elmyr had a difficult relationship with his art dealer Fernand Legros who, together with his partner, Real Lessard, played a big part in Elmyr’s life. But Lessard – who is still alive - later claimed he was the artist behind many of the pictures claimed by Elmyr. We also discuss Orson Welles’ documentary “F for Fake” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIVgUjj6RxU and François Reichenbach’s “Elmyr, The True Picture?” https://vimeo.com/84083934 Martin talks about Mark Forgy’s book “The Forger's Apprentice: Life with the World's Most Notorious Artist”. I interviewed Mark – who lived with Elmyr in Ibiza - for a recent episode of Ibizology. You can also listen to my interview with the art historian and forgery expert, Jeffrey Taylor on the Ibizology archive.

This time we delve deeper into Elmyr de Hory's life and art as I speak to the renowned art historian, Jeffrey Taylor, who has a particular interest in art forgery. He has studied Elmyr’s life, debunking some of the claims made by Elmyr about his background, and paying close attention to his art. We also discuss how he successfully eluded the authorities for so many years and the secrets to his success as a forger.

Elmyr de Hory, perhaps the twentieth century’s greatest art forger, lived in Ibiza from 1961 until his suicide in 1976. Uncovering the truth about Elmyr is difficult – the more you dig into his history the more impenetrable it becomes. For Elmyr, being gay and Jewish made life difficult in post-war Europe. Globe-trotting Elmyr settled in Ibiza in 1961 until his suicide in 1976 when facing extradition to France. In this episode I interview Mark Forgy who lived with Elmyr in Ibiza and was with him when he died. He describes candidly what a huge impact Elmyr has had on his life as well as the proliferation of "fake Elmyrs" now on the art market.