Context

Mutur Beltz is a project led by Laurita Siles, an artist and researcher born in Marbella in 1981 and currently based in the Karrantza Valley.

Her work combines art, agroecology and location-based practices, with a strong focus on recovering traditional knowledge at risk of disappearing. A Cum Laude PhD-holder from the University of the Basque Country, she works with natural materials such as wool to explore the connections between ecology, memory, and community. Together with Joseba Edesa, a local shepherd and cultural activist, she founded Mutur Beltz as a life project that intertwines sustainability, artistic practice and rural revitalisation.

The project arose from a critical situation: the black-faced Carranzana sheep, a native breed from northern Spain, is endangered. Its wool, once highly valued, had become a waste product with no commercial value. This issue threatened not only agrobiodiversity, but also the region’s cultural landscape and pastoral way of life.

Mutur Beltz offers a comprehensive response: recovering wool as a resource, dignifying the work of shepherds, creating rural employment and generating educational and artistic processes that revalue intangible heritage from a contemporary, feminist and community-centred perspective. From the outset, the project has placed rural women at its core — as bearers of knowledge, cultural drivers, and agents of transformation — making the historically invisible visible and building a more inclusive and just rural economy.

Objectives

The main aim was to recover Carranzana sheep wool as a strategic economic, ecological and cultural resource, whilst revaluing traditional trades and rural knowledge related to shepherding and textile work, and promoting dignified local employment in rural and artisanal contexts.

If the project succeeded, it would also advance gender equality by highlighting the role of rural women as cultural and productive agents, activate rural innovation processes based on sustainability, design and the circular economy, strengthen territorial roots and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, and position Basque wool within contemporary circuits of art, design and ethical production.

Activities

Mutur Beltz began its journey in 2020, registering as a sole proprietorship and formally enrolling in Spain’s tax and social security systems. That same year, the project was launched with support from a LEADER grant under the Basque Country’s Rural Development Program (CAP 2014–2022), which funded several key actions during its initial phase.

Thanks to this support, the project was able to develop a digital identity, acquire software and hardware for management, design and e-commerce, and register the brand and intellectual property rights. The grant also covered essential communication and dissemination expenses for graphic materials, promotional videos, social media strategy, and commercial activities, during an early stage in development when the project had limited resources. The LEADER-funded activities played a crucial role in giving visibility to the project and connecting with diverse audiences.

At the same time, the project owners set up a small workshop in their home. Since then, Mutur Beltz has gone on to develop a sustainable production line based on Carranzana sheep wool, transforming this raw material into yarns, technical fabrics, footwear, tapestries and designer accessories. The company buys the wool directly from local shepherds at fair prices, fostering a circular economy and local resilience.

Since 2020, the project has also led the Buen Vivir Artist Residency, intergenerational workshops, open studio days, talks on Basque wool, and collaborations with designers and artists. In doing so, a vibrant community has emerged, connecting agroecology, contemporary art, sustainability and traditional knowledge.

The communication tools, branding and digital identity funded through the CAP have been essential in positioning Mutur Beltz as a benchmark for rural innovation in the Basque Country, and in showcasing Basque wool as a strategic material for the 21st century.

Gender equality

Mutur Beltz was co-founded and is led by artist, researcher and rural entrepreneur Laurita Siles, and more than half of the collaborators, artists and participants involved are women. They are at the centre of the project's vision, development and daily work, from wool processing and design to education, management and cultural production.

The project adopts a feminist and community-based approach that recognises the role of rural women as bearers of knowledge, creators and agents of transformation. Mutur Beltz actively challenges the invisibility of women's traditional work and places their voices and contributions at the centre of rural innovation.

The project provides women with leadership and employment opportunities in rural creative entrepreneurship; training in textile techniques and traditional wool-related crafts; participation in decision-making processes; and artistic residencies and a platform to express, narrate and build rural futures from a gender perspective.

It promotes visibility and recognition of the historical and cultural roles of women, strengthens networks between craftswomen, farmers and designers, and creates intergenerational spaces for learning, nurturing and mutual support.

At Mutur Beltz, gender equality is the starting point for rethinking how people work, create and inhabit the rural world.

Main Results

Since 2017, the project has acquired over 5 000 kg of Carranzana wool, supporting 14–15 shepherds annually with some of the highest prices in Spain. Over 300 sustainable orders are shipped each semester, reinforcing a circular rural economy and a conscious consumer base.

Mutur Beltz has also delivered over 40 workshops and talks to revive traditional rural knowledge. Its Buen Vivir Artist Residency has hosted over 40 artists across nine editions and curated 20 exhibitions. More than 5 000 people have participated in cultural activities. The project publishes a book annually (nine to date), documenting creative processes and intangible heritage. Recognised as a rural innovation model, it has received 25 awards and grants, including the National Craft Entrepreneurship Award (2024), the Elkarlan Award, and Karrantza Naturala (2025).

Environmentally, Mutur Beltz prevents wool from being discarded or burned, reducing emissions and revaluing this biodegradable local material. Through 12 public performances and awareness campaigns, it has promoted the ecological and cultural significance of Basque wool. The project embraces agroecology, low-impact production and the circular economy as foundations for sustainable futures.

Key lessons

For a project of this kind to work, the local population needs to be made aware of what is at stake on a number of levels – socially, economically and in terms of heritage. Mutur Beltz encourages community pride, intergenerational learning and cooperation, creating spaces for expression through residencies, workshops and cultural events that connect local traditions with global and future perspectives.

As such, it was crucial to create a living network of rural innovation, crafts and culture, and unite agents from agriculture, creative industries and public institutions. Each stakeholder brings unique resources, values and perspectives to a shared vision of rural transformation. Effective networking is critical, as it activates cross-sector collaborations and long-term partnerships based on trust, territory and shared goals.