The Wind among the Leaves

The Wind among the Leaves is a portrait of one of the most outstanding collections of bonsais in Europe, that of Luis Vallejo, and of the collector himself through his collection. Far from taking a botanical approach to the specimens, the book presents these trees from a poetic perspective and by looking back to the age when they were designed and created. It does so first through images: a corpus of photographs taken by Fernando Maquieira over the course of several years of dialogue with the collection, and the sober musicality of Carmen Ballvé’s introduction in pictures – two languages to describe the same universe. And through words, also in two idioms: Following a presentation by Felipe González comes a series of short texts or quotations interspersed with the trees to represent their creator’s gaze, either evoking an experience or invoking a literary association; and José María Parreño’s narration, which takes readers on a journey to the world of bonsais through various pieces of information or written testimonies, both historical and imaginary, pieced together by chance guided by meaning. Finally, the volume is enhanced through the sketchbooks, which represent the simplest and most direct form of expression of the author’s link with his trees