02 July 2014
The project is the result of a three month long research, nurtured by a
dialogue with the 87 years old Cristina Calderon. As the last living member of
the ancient Chilean tribe of Yaghan, Cristina Calderon has been recognized as
a Living Human Treasure by UNESCO in 2006. After her, both Yaghan
language and culture will fade into oblivion.
The research takes the form of a journey ‘at the rear end of the world’, the
Chilean Patagonia, where the artist has met Cristina and has experienced,
through Cristina’s words and memories, the aura of her dying culture. A two
channel video installation documents this encounter as the artist effort to
create a pathway between two worlds, spatially and temporally distant form
each other. Nevertheless, this investigation does not aim to interpret Cristina’s
culture. Rather, the videos document the encounter with ‘the radically other’,
as the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas says. This encounter is not meant to
understand this ‘Other’, but just to let it be. Cristina tells her story, and
images of Yaghan everyday life arise from her whispers and silent smiles in
front of the intrusive camera.
The research method is the journey itself, a utopian adventure towards the
un-known, towards what is not only distant, maybe even unreachable.
Blurring the boundaries between who observes and who is observed, the artist
performs a Yaghan ritual at the sacred mountain Diente de Navarino, and tries
to re-enact the dying culture. A photographic archive gives form to these aged
memories, turning the journey metaphor into a critical investigation of the
process through which knowledge is produced and communicated.
Being any translation inextricably linked with the quest of knowledge, Elena
Bellantoni follows the French philosopher Derrida and de-constructs her own
approach to Yaghan culture. She does not transcribe a language into another,
a culture into images. Further to her firm intention to endure this language
and its culture without compromising their authenticity, Elena Bellantoni has
created the first-ever Abecedary of Yaghan language, turning into drawings
words and concepts of the Yaghan culture. Thus, the artist maps out the
derridean ‘impossible but necessary’ act of translation, transcribing every
Yaghan word in three different languages: Spanish, Italian and the language
of images.
Aiming to preserve a culture through the documentation of memories and
feelings of its last living member, all the artifacts and remnants of Yaghan
culture have been archived by the artist, alongside documents of Elena’s
journey and photographs of the tribe as portrayed by the Spanish missioners.
In this epistemological journey to the gravy of an ancient culture, the artist
finds her own responsibility, that is artistic, political and ethic at the same
time. The artist enters Cristina Calderon’s solitude and does whatever is
possible to make her experiences and knowledge still shared.
dialogue with the 87 years old Cristina Calderon. As the last living member of
the ancient Chilean tribe of Yaghan, Cristina Calderon has been recognized as
a Living Human Treasure by UNESCO in 2006. After her, both Yaghan
language and culture will fade into oblivion.
The research takes the form of a journey ‘at the rear end of the world’, the
Chilean Patagonia, where the artist has met Cristina and has experienced,
through Cristina’s words and memories, the aura of her dying culture. A two
channel video installation documents this encounter as the artist effort to
create a pathway between two worlds, spatially and temporally distant form
each other. Nevertheless, this investigation does not aim to interpret Cristina’s
culture. Rather, the videos document the encounter with ‘the radically other’,
as the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas says. This encounter is not meant to
understand this ‘Other’, but just to let it be. Cristina tells her story, and
images of Yaghan everyday life arise from her whispers and silent smiles in
front of the intrusive camera.
The research method is the journey itself, a utopian adventure towards the
un-known, towards what is not only distant, maybe even unreachable.
Blurring the boundaries between who observes and who is observed, the artist
performs a Yaghan ritual at the sacred mountain Diente de Navarino, and tries
to re-enact the dying culture. A photographic archive gives form to these aged
memories, turning the journey metaphor into a critical investigation of the
process through which knowledge is produced and communicated.
Being any translation inextricably linked with the quest of knowledge, Elena
Bellantoni follows the French philosopher Derrida and de-constructs her own
approach to Yaghan culture. She does not transcribe a language into another,
a culture into images. Further to her firm intention to endure this language
and its culture without compromising their authenticity, Elena Bellantoni has
created the first-ever Abecedary of Yaghan language, turning into drawings
words and concepts of the Yaghan culture. Thus, the artist maps out the
derridean ‘impossible but necessary’ act of translation, transcribing every
Yaghan word in three different languages: Spanish, Italian and the language
of images.
Aiming to preserve a culture through the documentation of memories and
feelings of its last living member, all the artifacts and remnants of Yaghan
culture have been archived by the artist, alongside documents of Elena’s
journey and photographs of the tribe as portrayed by the Spanish missioners.
In this epistemological journey to the gravy of an ancient culture, the artist
finds her own responsibility, that is artistic, political and ethic at the same
time. The artist enters Cristina Calderon’s solitude and does whatever is
possible to make her experiences and knowledge still shared.
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