Lourdes Melis Gomila: "Tourismophobia is understandable"

ManacorLourdes Melis Gomila (Portocristo, 1985) holds a degree in Art History and specializes in Cultural Heritage management and research. She holds a PhD in Tourism with the thesis Museums and cultural tourism in the Balearic Islands, presents some of the most interesting proposals and reflections on this complicated mix of factors. Furthermore, in 2011, she began researching Llorenç des Cardassar's embroidery workshops, and since late 2023, she has been leading the project to create the Brodat and Textile Museum with the Sant Llorenç des Cardassar City Council. She currently teaches Cultural Heritage Management and Tourism in the Department of Art History and will teach a master's degree next academic year.

How do school visits to explore and explain the historical and artistic heritage of Manacor and Portocristo work?

— They're in the educational guide prepared each year by the Municipal Education Department. At the beginning of the school year, the City Council proposes activities in all the municipality's schools, adapted to the curricula for each grade level. We have historical events, trades, and emblematic places. They're amazed when they see that what they're studying in class also happened here, that we have it, and they can see it in the town.

Which ones are there, for example?

— Manacor, trades and placesWe make the history of Manacor, where the students themselves act as researchers of the cultural and architectural heritage, or Manacor, an open museum and The Civil War in Manacor. Then we have practically the same in Portocristo, in addition to Portocristo and the sea.

By the way, now that we're talking about Buenos Aires heritage, where is the small maritime museum that used to be in Les Coves Blanques?

— It's in the library, upstairs in the municipal offices. It had to be moved a few years ago to ensure its proper preservation.

Tell me about 'The Sea, Our Culture,' the tourism and cultural project that the City Council presented a few weeks ago.

— Júlia Acosta and Antònia Llodrà commissioned me to undertake the project, which in this case, and for obvious reasons, begins with the port. It's a cultural proposal beyond tourism, to define concepts, the areas in which we operate and which we want to value. The central axis is community and heritage. Uniting culture and tourism is often an act of courage. We don't aim to attract more tourists or greater economic returns. It's a cultural project above all else.

Different from what we are used to?

— Personally, I don't see tourism management as it's often understood: making maps, merchandising, posters, or a website... Is the territory prepared for what we 'sell'?

Do you understand the concern about the overcrowding of the territory?

— Tourismophobia is understandable, in the sense that tourism has devastated our sociocultural and industrial structures.

Can this be corrected or are we already late?

— The situation is very complicated. It's better to accept it and then manage it as best as possible using other strategies. We must keep in mind that, in the end, we're all tourists when we travel. It's the way we approach it that must change.

As?

— With realistic proposals, there's potential in Manacor, but the content isn't widely disseminated. We talk a lot about how we want cultural tourism, but what kind?

Which?

— Its primary objective should be the preservation of cultural heritage and its effective dissemination. It should be aimed at the community, which also includes visitors. It should value unknown heritage aspects and involve the local community.

Returning to the project of the sea as a central axis for explaining tourism and culture. Parallel, but together?

— We must think about identity. The sea defines us. It has brought us mass tourism, certainly, but also culture. There must be an attempt at reconciliation, because otherwise, that feeling of distance from the element will be accentuated. The project aims to approach it from different perspectives: fishing sea, archaeological sea, maritime sea, tourist sea, and war sea. All of this is presented in a cross-cutting manner. The next step will be to organize the information for subsequent dissemination.

With explanatory routes?

— Yes, with the first being the fisheries project. Combined with community engagement sessions and interviews that we will film. We want to compile a record of oral sources and a photographic archive that can be edited and posted for review. There are many proposals that, while they may seem obvious, have not been finalized. An analysis of what has already been done and proposals for change using management tools are needed.

How will the work done in Sant Llorenç with the embroidery workshops end?

— With the effective launch of the Embroidery and Weaving Museum, in the building that used to be Ca les Monges in Sant Llorenç. When the torrent arrived and swept away thousands of items, we realized we definitely needed a community project. Through donations, we've been able to expand the collection with pieces from all over Mallorca: Sóller, Palma, Felanitx, and Vilafranca. We've been organizing ourselves into community committees about what we want to do.

— It will be a community-based museum with more than 300 exhibits, including sewing machines, photos, patterns, drawings, magazines, and catalogs. Construction work is expected to begin this year, with €40,000 in municipal funds alone.

Is it still a living profession?

— San Lorenzo was important for its tailoring and embroidery workshops, which were eventually closed because the cost of the pieces was high. Design, pattern making, draftsmen... Last year marked the centenary of the first workshop held in Sant Llorenç, and we celebrated by opening BrodArt. Contemporary manufacturing and artistic creation, bringing craftsmanship into dialogue with today's artisans and artists. These were Catalan entrepreneurs who established Taller Gran (Joan Miró) in 1924. Currently, there is Caliu in Sant Llorenç, where you can order embroidered pieces, and Confecciones Extraño in Son Carrió.

How do the women who inherited this tradition and who have helped make it all possible see it?

— They have empowered themselves, they have identified that what they were doing was not one hobby, but they also economically lifted up an entire town. In any case, the research and cataloging are not over. The goal is to offer a contemporary and living vision. We have uncovered a dormant memory, and this is precious.

The future also has to be

— What we want is to professionalize the annual contemporary creation so that young people see it as a living thing. This year will be the second edition of BrodArt, and work will begin on converting the building into the future museum. We're also involved in projects with other museums and organizations. The museum doesn't yet exist physically, but it has already begun to take shape in the consciousness of the people of Sant Llorenç.