Fertilizing Mourning on the Day of Lost Species in Graz / Duelo Fertilizante en el Día de las Especies Extinctas en Graz

On November 30 I guided a procession dedicated to the Bald Ibis that used to live in Graz, Austria. Here’s the text inviting to the event, organized by Daniela Brasil, curator of the exhibition Habitat Graz at Graz Museum:

On the Remembrance Day for Lost Species, we embark on a historical journey to medieval Graz and follow in the footsteps of the Northern Bald Ibis to grieve for endangered and extinct species. Starting at the Graz Museum Schlossberg, where a preserved specimen of a Northern Bald Ibis is on display, we set off together on a mourning procession towards the medieval summer residence of the Northern Bald Ibis, finishing at the Graz Museum.

Following Eliana Otta’s invitation on how to hold collective mourning and regenerative processes, participants will create a collective commemorative piece to be installed in the Museum’s yard and the exhibition Habitat Graz “Altar for our more-than-human ancestors”. Martin Roland will share his collection of multi-faceted stories around the Waldrapp, going back to the symbolic and spiritual meaning humans constructed around this beautiful black bird all the way back to ancient Egypt.

With:
Eliana Otta, Artist
Martin Roland, Historian Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaft
Daniela Brasil, Curator Graz Museum


El 30 de noviembre guié una procesión dedicada al ibis calvo que solía vivir en Graz, Austria. He aquí el texto de invitación al acto, organizado por Daniela Brasil, comisaria de la exposición Hábitat Graz en el Museo de Graz:

En el Día del Recuerdo de las Especies Perdidas, nos embarcamos en un viaje histórico a la Graz medieval y seguimos los pasos del ibis calvo septentrional para llorar por las especies en peligro de extinción. Empezando en el Museo Schlossberg de Graz, donde se expone un ejemplar conservado de ibis calvo septentrional, partimos juntos en procesión de duelo hacia la residencia de verano medieval del ibis calvo septentrional, terminando en el Museo de Graz.

Siguiendo la invitación de Eliana Otta sobre cómo llevar a cabo procesos colectivos de duelo y regeneración, los participantes crearán una pieza conmemorativa colectiva que se instalará en el patio del Museo y en la exposición de Habitat Graz «Altar para nuestros antepasados más que humanos». Martin Roland compartirá su colección de historias polifacéticas en torno al Waldrapp, remontándose al significado simbólico y espiritual que los humanos construyeron en torno a esta hermosa ave negra hasta el antiguo Egipto.

Con:
Eliana Otta, Artista
Martin Roland, historiador Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaft
Daniela Brasil, conservadora del Museo de Graz

Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor DeepL.com

Aching places, screaming words, premonitory agreements

Aching places, screaming words, premonitory agreements is an online workshop I developed for the beautiful program You are not muted, curated by Renata Cervetto for KW Berlin.

Here’s the invitation text for the workshop:

«How to express what aches, confuses or paralyzes us while being distanced? How to relate to protest and dissent when withdrawn from the public space? How to remain critical and socially engaged while dedicating our days to search for wellbeing under uncertain circumstances? Eliana Otta is a multidisciplinary artist from Lima whose practice proposes collective activities that intertwine orality, poetry, embodied knowledge and physical practices. Acknowledging how the need to redefine struggling actions and vocabularies seems as overwhelming as urgent, Otta’s workshop will embark on the task of identifying the possible meanings that the term “political” can bring into the pandemic context. It will review the foundational seams patching societies, questioning what Constitutions should be and do for us today, when most of us are revisiting what constitutes us as peoples and inhabitants of this planet. Expanding from the individual to the collective, we’ll work with words and imagination, with desires and poetry, navigating together from intimate goals to possible sources of political renewal.»