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UNTITLED or una cosa infinite muere cuando el oro
sale de la garganta de los locos
(“an infinite thing dies
when gold comes out of the throats of madmen")
TEXTILE INTERVENTION W/ PLASTIC FOUND IN
THE AREA DEVASTATED BY ILLEGAL GOLD MINING
IN THE REGION OF LA PAMPA, PERUVIAN AMAZON
CHRIS TIGRA & HENRY ORTIZ,
2022
The plastic remains for the work were collected when we were in La
Pampa – Madre de Dios, Peru – during the Beyond Conservation 2022
residency in September 2022. La Pampa is one of the most dangerous
regions related to illegal gold mining in the Amazon, being the largest gold digger camp in Peru. We went to this place accompanied by scientists from CINCIA - Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica, - where experimental areas of reforestation were presented to us. The landscape that was formerly primary forest just 5 years ago now resembles a desert as a result of gold mining and mercury contamination of the soil.
After the collection, we thought about the textile intervention, embroidering our manifesto moved by the impact of the route we took through the devastated territory. The result turned out to be a map, full of holes, like the void found in front of dead rivers and infertile soil. The dry grass that grew naturally along with the plastic was incorporated into the
We carried out an action in the streets of Puerto Maldonado, capital of the Madre de Dios department and the province of Tambopata, the closest city to the La Pampa region where the plastic was collected.The action consisted of one of us (Chris Tigra) walking through spaces of tension directly or indirectly related to mining in the city, wearing the work, while the other (Henry Ortiz) followed the action recording. Next to the register on the street where gold is bought and sold (legally, but it is known that illegal trade takes place behind closed doors inside establishments).
CHRIS TIGRA (BELO HORIZONTE, BRASIL)
Chris Tigra is a Brazilian artist who
works with different languages,
investigating human urgencies. From a
deep curiosity with the world and a
critical involvement with it, the artist
dialogues with art as a culture of
activism in search of social
transformation, that’s why she
concentrates much of her productions
on marginalized situations, experiences
and universes.
Tigra's works revolve
around community projects, breaking
with traditional art formats and linking
materialities to gender and domesticity
in the shape of political discourse.
Visual artist. Graduated from the National School of Fine Arts of Peru and candidate for a master's degree in art education at the Ricardo Palma University.Its proposal focuses on the study and investigation of pre-Hispanic technologies such as textiles and ceramics for the production of contemporary art with a multidisciplinary scope. Thus, it explores diverse languages and materials such as graphic art, photography, sculpture and textile art. With his work, he proposes to question the hegemonic categories in which local arts are located and the liminal fields of these practices in relation to the fine arts or media validated by the academic system. This is reflected in artistic, collaborative production with a community focus. He has developed proposals related to the landscape and the environment, as well as collaborative projects with vulnerable communities. She has a special interest in heritage and the state of the art in society, as well as identity issues related to the emerging and complex.
BEYOND CONSERVATION AIR 2022 :
BRIDGING ART & SCIENCE TO PROTECT THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
Curated by Studio Verde AIR in Partnership with ACEER Foundation and Amazon Aid