An artistic exhibition that challenges cultural borders and environmental awareness was inaugurated on February 22 at the James W. Palmer Gallery at Vassar College, New York.
This is “Abolengo: An illustrious history of plunder in Mapuche lands”, by Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, with the support and management of the academic and professor at Vassar College Montserrat Madariaga Caro.
In an innovative and ironic way, the exhibition challenges visitors to reflect on the intersection between the contemporary Mapuche experience, overconsumption, monoculture, advertising and environmental destruction.
Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, a Mapuche Huilliche artist, is currently an artist in residence at Vassar College and leads this exploration that transcends the boundaries of contemporary art.
The installation of paper boat sculptures, made from “Abolengo” napkins, represents colonization and “terricide,” the murder of the land perpetrated by the forestry industry.
Through images and sounds, the exhibition offers an intimate and powerful look at the devastating consequences of these practices on indigenous communities and the environment.
The word “anceline” has multiple meanings. On the one hand, it denotes an illustrious ancestry; On the other hand, it is the name of a brand of napkins in Chile, produced by CMPC, a logging business holding company that operates on lands that the Mapuche claim as their own.
The exhibition “Abolengo” addresses this topic from an artistic perspective, analyzing the brand’s most famous commercials, to use the central figure of the advertising videos focused on the paper boat.
From there the artist declares “I used the metaphor of the paper boat, to speak from a familiar language about the impact of advertising on collective memory, but also delving into the irony of the environmental disaster and the racism reflected in the two commercials analyzed.” .
From there, using sculptures, music, performance and a video performance that combines images of the monoculture still present in sectors of the Valdivian jungle and excerpts of images from the documentary in progress “Bahía Coral” by the Audiovisual La Gaviota production company, an immersive experience was created. and reflective in which the work reveals the various strategies of extractivism present from colonization to the present.
The collaboration between Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, Montserrat Madariaga, and a multidisciplinary team of artists composed of the musicalization of the video performance by Gera LK and the sound base for part of the performance by Nico Montano and his musical project Radiatta, is also accompanied by the artists and technical support Isaac Brand, Anita Contreras, Elisa Figueroa Leigh Mathias Reimann – Benjamín Cariquiry, José Martínez.
In addition to the multimedia installation, a series of special events will be held, including talks, workshops and mediations, to delve deeper into the themes explored in “Abolengo” by encouraging dialogue and political and creative action.
