Art is a way of preserving, transmitting and promoting our most deeply rooted traditions. It is a superior form of expression that has the power to communicate through the forms and materials used by its author. And this is what Vidartis is all about, a project that manages to turn art into an ambassador of our grape, our land and the work that is carried out every day in the vineyards of Castilla La Mancha, a disruptive and fascinating idea in which the must brings art to life. Today we introduce you to Vidartis, its beginnings, its trajectory and how it represents more than just a Social Responsibility project for Julián Soler.
- What is Vidartis?
- How did such an innovative project linking agriculture and art come about?
- Vidartis as a corporate social responsibility project of Julian Soler
- Vidartis around the world. A brief summary of the trajectory since its beginnings
What is Vidartis?
Vidartis is the result of merging the concepts of art and agriculture. It is a completely innovative project in which Julian Soler’s concentrated red and white grape juice concentrate are used as pigments to create a variety of pictorial and graphic works, as well as other elements from the vineyard such as soil, leaves and crushed vine shoots, to create different textures and enrich the artist’s resources. It is a project that aims to transform the grapes that the farmer harvests into a highly valuable pictorial work.
But more than a project, Vidartis is a way of giving form, colour and life to art. For the artist, using the natural pigment of grape juice concentrate in the creation of their work transports them to vineyards and wineries, thanks to the textures and the fragrance that manages to permeate the atmosphere. For the viewer, the works created with grape juice concentrate connect in a surprising way with our roots and with the family tradition of grape growing in La Mancha.
How did such an innovative project linking agriculture and art come about?
Vidartis is an innovation with the Julian Soler stamp. It was born by chance during Christmas 2020. The engineer Ana Soler, the current project manager, came up with the idea of making Christmas with red grape juice concentrate to send greetings to customers. Everyone liked the result, the colour was beautiful and intense, and what it communicated without words was truly unique. This was the birth of Vidartis, the point at which art and agriculture came together to convey life and emotion.
Our R&D department began to develop the idea of painting with grape juice concentrate, the project was drawn up and the research process was carried out in conjunction with the University of Castilla La Mancha UCLM. This is how we obtained and shared VIDARTIS ink, a product for artistic creation in which the Garnacha Tintorera grape variety plays a fundamental role.
Since the birth of Vidartis, we have not stopped publicising our project on the radio, at events, exhibitions, press releases and trade fairs. We remember with special affection the visit that His Majesty King Felipe VI paid to the FENAVIN Fair, stopping at the Julián Soler stand and taking an interest in our project.
Vidartis as a corporate social responsibility project of Julian Soler
Vidartis has served as a channelling instrument for our company to participate actively in different areas of society:
Commitment to education, culture and the arts
At Julian Soler we are committed to education, art and culture. We bring the Vidartis project to schools to encourage learning through artistic creation and experimentation. We give workshops and carry out various activities in schools. In this way, children, young people and teachers have access to Vidartis inks to create and express themselves, while we expose the importance of the land and traditions and transmit the value of our region, their region.
We also collaborate with local artists and maintain continuous contact with the Faculty of Fine Arts to promote an innovative artistic line through the use of grape juice concentrate in various graphic techniques. In addition, we encourage student participation with the “Julian Soler Award for the best works”.
Commitment to research and innovation
At Julian Soler we are known for our constant innovation and research. And through Vidartis we confirm this, with the innovative idea of using grape juice concentrate in art. Furthermore, from the very beginning, we created a line of research in conjunction with the UCLM to optimise the grape juice concentrate as an artistic pigment. Currently the research is focused on the stability of the pigment and the passage of time, with really encouraging results. On the other hand, we have also started to explore the application of grape juice concentrate in fashion, through the pigmentation of textiles.
Commitment to the roots of our land and sustainability
Through Vidartis works we reflect our land and our culture, and we spread respect for the environment and the value of working agriculture responsibly with the ecosystem. In each painting, graphic, drawing… the grape juice concentrate appears as a sustainable and natural, non-toxic pigment. It is a completely environmentally friendly product that, in addition to its incursion into art, can also be used in the labelling of our wines and other products of the region, being a perfect product for the manufacture of ecological and modern packaging.
A commitment to being ambassadors of our grapes around the world
We use grape juice concentrate to enhance its value and disseminate the traditions and roots of Castilla-La Mancha through art, both in Spain and around the world. Vidartis works can be sent anywhere in the world, which makes them an art ambassador for our grape and our culture, an art that gives value to the work of our farmers and our local agriculture. Wherever you find an artwork created with grape juice concentrate, our grapes are present.
Vidartis around the world. A brief summary of the trajectory since its beginnings
Vidartis is definitely born from the love we have for our land and the work we have dedicated to grape growing for more than 50 years. In 2020, an idea becomes the innovative seed, a seed that we fertilise with research and more creativity to see a unique project blossom, a project in which we transform the grape juice concentrate into an exceptional art that connects us with our identity and conveys a whole winemaking tradition.
The works created with grape juice concentrate have a life of their own, they are works that can evolve over time, with the intensity of the pigment colour changing. Achieving total stability is one of the objectives we are currently pursuing in the research phase. But… this change over time is a way in which art reminds us of life itself.
Companies, schools, universities, artists, students, art lovers… everyone has connected with Vidartis. The acceptance has been magnificent and the repercussion has been even greater, because thanks to this artistic creation project we have managed to generate positive and lasting impacts on education, art, culture, research, innovation, care for the environment and the dissemination of our purest traditions.
Vidartis is a Julian Soler project, in which the farmer and the artist are the protagonists. We are committed to society through education, art and culture.
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