Dancing in the Devil’s Den
by Fabiola Talavera, August 2024
Studio Visits
I ventured out to Brooklyn most days, where I found most artists’ studios are located in warehouse spaces, cooperative buildings and ample apartments shared among many. The visits were all conducted in Spanish. Although having this language in common, the accents, expressions and social conventions of each one denoted our distinct backgrounds and became part of our conversations.
Naomi Treistman created ceramic musical instruments and used the anthropomorphized figure of a house to reflect her ever-moving nature since she had left Peru.
Mexican painter Maria Fragoso portrayed the faces of people around her and expressed through allegoric details the complex relationships she had formed in the past years in the US.
Site Visits
A notable exhibition I got to see was “Amerika” at CARA by the Venezuelan Javier Téllez, which commissioned a film starring migrant non-actors in a fiction that emulated Charlie Chaplin’s comical social commentary.
People from all over South America congregated for a sound performance at the Lower East Side outpost of Peruvian gallery Revolver for the inauguration of “Sanctuaries of Fire”, a survey of Latin-American emerging artists by the curator from Domincan Republic, Dulcina Abreu.
The most poignant impressions were made at the solo exhibition of Habana-born Carlos Martiel’s at Museo del Barrio, a show that outlined the visceral endurance performances he has put his body through to pose questions about colonialism, migration and race.
Walk with the Devil
The research culminated in a day program at Canal Projects on the 11th of July, which was broadcasted live through Montez Press Radio. While guests arrived and mingled around the exhibition of Mexican artist, Fernando Palma, the speakers played Compilation 1 by Hueso Records. These six DIY recordings were found by Chilean artist Iván Navarro and made during the most obscure period of the Pinochet regime (1973-1990). Only circulated in reduced local contexts, musicians such as Pinochet Boys, Cleopatras, Índice de Desempleo, Electrodomésticos, Banda Pequeño Vicio and Álvaro Peña embodied the spirit of those times. Later on in the evening, a talk ensued between Museo del Barrio’s Director Patrick Charpenel and Ignacio Gatica in which I acted as a moderator. Gatica reflected on his practice, which examines neo-liberal economic models, changing urban landscapes, and how language and symbols play a role in the assimilation of Western thought. Charpenel explained the differences between running a museum in Mexico City and in New York, the origins of Museo del Barrio from the civil-rights movement, the term “Latinx” and the expansion of Museo del Barrio’s Triennial into other geographies. To close the night, a DJ set titled “La Joyería” by Venezuelan producer MPeach got the audience moving with high-energy dance beats and traditional rhythms from Venezuela, The Caribbean, Latin America and Africa.
To try to encompass diverse countries of the Americas into a homogenous idea is a futile task, and indeed there’s still many more perspectives to be heard and territories to be explored, but by learning about the idiosyncrasies and influences of each other we were able to connect on shared understandings, meditate on viewpoint changes, and reflect on this place they’ve made home. Having the platform of Canal Projects was key in allowing a common ground outside of market-oriented dynamics that often constrict discussions around art and culture. In the end, this sub-residency proved to be a meaningful experience where long-lasting connections were threaded between people of multiple origins and occupations, critical subjects were debated, and ideas for new collaboration schemes were envisioned.
