Abstract
The work of the Catrileo Carrion Community is closely related to the notion of territory because it focuses on the sea, a geographical space that is part of the ancestral territory of numerous coastal indigenous communities, such as the Mapuche. The connection with the sea is rooted in a deep and spiritual bond that these communities maintain with their marine environment, involving activities such as fishing, food gathering, and the preservation of their cultural connection to the ocean. Through their artwork, the Catrileo Carrion Community explores and celebrates this sacred relationship between indigenous communities and the sea, highlighting the importance of territory and water in their cosmology and the preservation of their cultural identity.
We inhabit different territories: Pikunmapu/Qullasuyu (known as Chile) and Kumeyaay territory (US/Mexico border). Nations embody not only traditions and identity but also undergo changes and revolutions. In honor of this perpetual energy, we present this video as a forthcoming ceremony. We aim to ignite political imagination and radical love (Andrew Jolivétte), fostering reciprocity through these actions that yearn to connect across the sea. Each project action is intertwined with the vast body of water, the Pacific Ocean. Gabriela “Himitsu” Nuñez has created a sonic atmosphere for this collective experiment. The video features two performances in different locations and two textile pieces: a community cord and a Mapuche-woven piece called Ñimikan. Accompanied by a poetic text, it traverses the movement of water and textiles, inviting us to engage with an alternative understanding of the sea as a fluid memory of tidalectics (Kamau Brathwaite), breaking free from linear time’s grasp on life. Alongside the video, two graphic pieces echo the poetic text, transferring it to a different materiality. Through repetition, transformation takes place. The text navigates an uncertain linguistic geography, where selected languages speak of our communal place of enunciation. Framed with the same Mapuche textile design as the piece in the video, two interwoven hearts protect this text, for it is a ceremony yet to find its defined geography.
