The Moment of the Yagrumo's hallway view

The Moment of the Yagrumo refers to the present, the time after the passage of a devastating storm when the strongest trees in the tropical forest fall and then, in that unexpected clearing, the yagrumo can germinate. This tree is much weaker and, although its sprouts give the sensation and greenery that indicate recovery, they will be easier to fall in future storms. These times of extreme and more frequent storms could accelerate processes in which the forests themselves help create the global warming that destroys them. The "yagrumo's moment" is simultaneously a metaphor for post-hurricane recovery, but also the urgency for deeper changes in our relationship with nature.

The exhibition examines three central themes: the rights of nature; sovereignty and resistance; and the recovery of knowledge through artisan practices incorporated into contemporary art practices by artists located in the Caribbean and the Americas. This group of artists shares interests in a growing appreciation and study of the vernacular and approaches art from regenerative practices, the use of natural materials and local production and consumption towards a true emancipation. Others use technology and its ways of representing nature to reflect on the social and cultural effects of our exploration of the world and the universe.

Faced with a global economic system that collapsed at the end of the 2000s, there is a search for self-sufficiency and social reorganization that does not exclude the wishes of artists, who seek alternatives outside the margins that have been drawn for us. These artistic practices account for the paradigm shift observed in the wider art world, in which spaces have been created for important historical reviews and renewed interest in artists and fields usually considered outside the canon of art. There is other knowledge that it is urgent to recover for greater dissemination as part of the decolonization strategies that we can put into practice.

Marina Reyes Franco
Curator