Estepona

The Estepona Orchidarium unveils an installation that turns orchids into live music

The Estepona Botanical Park-Orchidarium hosts on Sunday, October 25, at 10.00 hours, the premiere of «Escuchar lo invisible», an audiovisual installation in which live orchids generate music and images in real time. The piece remains permanently in the park.

Francisco CG · Published on October 21, 2026 at 16:29

Image for the story: The Estepona Orchidarium unveils an installation that turns orchids into live music — Photo: Ayuntamiento de Estepona

The Estepona Botanical Park-Orchidarium hosts on Sunday, October 25, at 10.00 hours, the premiere of «Escuchar lo invisible», an audiovisual and interactive installation in which live orchids generate music and images in real time. The event is part of the XI Orchid and Collector's Plant Fair, held that weekend, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, in the park's outdoor areas.

How it works

The installation places sensors on orchid specimens that continuously measure their bioelectrical variations, called biodata. These signals reach an audiovisual engine that translates each variation into musical parameters such as tone, pitch, dynamics, rhythm, density and timbre. Each connected orchid feeds its own virtual instrument, so that different sound lines are created that dialogue in the space. They are not fixed melodies: the composition changes at every moment and does not repeat exactly. At the same time, these same biodata modify on a central screen the movement, density and behaviour of digital particles and three-dimensional models of different orchid species.

A project that stays in the park

The piece will be permanently incorporated into the Botanical Park-Orchidarium, according to the Estepona City Council. The plants do not emit notes in the traditional sense, but they do generate detectable activity through bioelectrical impulses linked to their physiological processes and their reactions to light, humidity, temperature or the presence of visitors, explains Alejandro Fernández, the artist and researcher who developed the project. Fernández points out that the piece works as «a bridge between biology and aesthetics, allowing visitors to make perceptible a dimension of plant life that usually remains invisible and inaudible». The work has been developed within the framework of Molino Lab, a space for artistic experimentation in Salamanca, and driven under the project «Sinfonía Biótica».

To attend

The premiere is on Sunday, October 25, at 10.00 hours at the Estepona Botanical Park-Orchidarium, within the fair that opens on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25. Admission to the exhibitors' area is free; the workshops require a ticket and prior reservation.