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Claudia Alarcón and Silät
Nitsäyphä: Wichí Stories
5 October - 3 November 2023
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The village of Alto de la Sierra in Salta, Argentina. Video courtesy of Clara Johnston
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‘I know of this story, told by the people. There was a day, long ago, when women lived in heaven. They descended from time to time here to earth. They brought their chaguar, and they made threads upon threads when they arrived. They glided by means of a chaguar rope that hung from the sky. When they landed, they sat down to make thread and weaved, all of them very beautiful.’
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Claudia Alarcón, Tewok Tes P'ante [El origen del río / The origin of the river], 2023, Signed bottom right, Recycled nylon, hand-spun, "yica" stitch, Framed: 210 x 195 cm (82 5/8 x 76 3/4 in), Unframed: 189 x 155 cm (74 3/8 x 61 in) -
Cecilia Brunson Projects is delighted to present an exhibition of textile art by Claudia Alarcón and Silät, a collective of artists from the Wichí communities of Santa Victoria Este, Salta, Argentina. This is the artists’s first UK exhibition, produced in collaboration with curator Andrei Fernández, and follows 2023 presentations at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires and at the Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, New York, alongside Thañi, a wider group of weavers from the region. This exhibition constitutes a radical recasting of Wichí textile traditions, inherited methods of production translated only in recent years into large-scale artworks, which have provided a means for women across generations to transmit contemporary Wichí culture into the webs of international art dialogues. These artworks signify at once a collective response to changing dynamics between Indigenous communities and a wider world, and individual impulses to express creatively and imaginatively.
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Claudia Alarcón, Kates tsinhay [Mujeres estrellas / Star women], 2023, Signed bottom right, Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, "yica" stitch, Framed: 192 x 203 cm (75 5/8 x 79 7/8 in), Unframed: 175 x 181 cm (68 7/8 x 71 1/4 in)
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The weaving of textile objects from vegetal fibres produced from the local chaguar plant is fundamental to the visual culture, narrative history and economics of the Wichí people. Its centrality is articulated in a mythological tale, in which beautiful women, living in the sky as stars, would travel down to earth on woven chaguar ropes to dine on the fish caught by fishermen. Upon discovering this, the men employed the help of birds to snap the ropes and the women were trapped on earth for evermore, but continued to weave and pass knowledge of the world above onto their daughters. The parable suggests a passage from the naivety and freedom of childhood to the societal responsibilities of adulthood; girls are taught to spin chaguar and weave functional objects from the age of 12, their creations a way to provide financially as well as to sustain ancestral cultural practices.
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In another sense, learning to weave presents a further awakening, an entryway into a collective conversation between the women of the Wichí communities; the textiles, formed of geometric motifs drawn from the surrounding environment, are a method of communicating unspoken thoughts within a culture that values highly forms of non-verbal expression, and the messages found within dreams and subconscious intuition. Silät, the name adopted by the artist collective, means ‘information’ or ‘alert,’ and reflects the role of textiles to convey messages and thoughts.
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Claudia Alarcón, Ta’ni t’äj wet mak ta otakie [Caparazón de tortuga y el futuro / Tortoise shell and the future], 2023, Signed bottom right, Crocheted acrylic wool, 156 x 127 cm, 61 3/8 x 50 in
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Artist Bio:
Claudia Alarcón is an artist from the Wichí La Puntana community in Salta, Argentina. Wichi society is clan-based and matrilocal, and weaving with hand-spun vegetal fibres from the local chaguar plant has been a communal, female-led activity for centuries. While working amongst a collective of traditional weavers named Silät, Alarcón’s individual experimentations have synthesised into a unique and clearly defined style. She identifies the potential for artmaking within her inherited traditions, to promote a communion between Wichí history and contemporary culture and social politics. In coordinating the production of the Silät collective, and leading experimentations in material and subject matter within their practice, Alarcón supports creativity, independence and self-sustaining practices amongst Indigenous women.
In December 2022, Alarcón became the first indigenous woman to be awarded a National Salon of Visual Arts prize by the Ministry of Culture in Argentina. Alarcón was also awarded the Ama Amoedo Acquisition Prize at Pinta Miami in 2022, and her work is represented in the MALBA Collection in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the Denver Art Museum, Colorado.
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Claudia Alarcón, Hala lhawo (Flor / Flower), 2023, Signed bottom right, Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, "yica" stitch, Framed: 87.5 x 118 cm (34 1/2 x 46 1/2 in), Unframed: 68 x 98 cm (26 3/4 x 38 5/8 in)
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[1] Díaz, Delfina, “Women Stars” in María Carri (editor) Thañí, Andrei Fernández, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Elerio María (authors), Silät, Center for Curatorial Studies Bard College, Buenos Aires, 2023, 117.
Contact us
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List of works
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Claudia AlarcónKates tsinhay [Mujeres estrellas / Star women], 2023Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, "yica" stitch.Framed: 192 x 203 cm (75 5/8 x 79 7/8 in)
Unframed: 175 x 181 cm (68 7/8 x 71 1/4 in)Signed bottom rightView more details -
Claudia AlarcónTewok Tes P'ante [El origen del río / The origin of the river], 2023Recycled nylon, hand-spun, "yica" stitch.Framed: 210 x 195 cm (82 5/8 x 76 3/4 in)
Unframed: 189 x 155 cm (74 3/8 x 61 in)Signed bottom rightView more details -
Claudia AlarcónFwokachaj kiotey [Orejas de mulita/quirquincho / Armadillo ears], 2023Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, antique stitch.Framed: 152.5 x 139 cm (60 x 54 3/4 in)
Unframed: 133 x 122 cm (52 3/8 x 48 in)Signed bottom rightView more details -
Claudia AlarcónTa’ni t’äj wet mak ta otakie [Caparazón de tortuga y el futuro / Tortoise shell and the future], 2023Crocheted acrylic wool156 x 127 cm
61 3/8 x 50 inSigned bottom rightView more details -
Claudia Alarcón & SilätInawop [La primavera / Spring], 2023Hand-spun chaguar fibre, natural dyes and aniline dyes, woven fabric, "yica" stitchFramed: 177 x 135 cm (69 3/4 x 53 1/8 in)
Unframed: 159 x 104 cm (62 5/8 x 41 in)View more details -
Claudia Alarcón & SilätHonatsi [La noche / The night], 2023Hand-spun chaguar fibre, natural dyes and aniline dyes, woven fabric, "yica" stitchFramed: 170 x 148 cm (66 7/8 x 58 1/4 in)
Unframed: 145 x 127 cm (57 1/8 x 50 in)View more details -
Claudia AlarcónHala lhawo (Flor / Flower), 2023Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, "yica" stitch.Framed: 87.5 x 118 cm (34 1/2 x 46 1/2 in)
Unframed: 68 x 98 cm (26 3/4 x 38 5/8 in)Signed bottom rightView more details
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![Claudia Alarcón Fwokachaj kiotey [Orejas de mulita/quirquincho / Armadillo ears], 2023 Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, antique stitch. Framed: 152.5 x 139 cm (60 x 54 3/4 in) Unframed: 133 x 122 cm (52 3/8 x 48 in) Signed bottom right](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/cbprojects/images/view/74eb78db5489d0831eadd8e5c285cf8dj.jpg)
![Claudia Alarcón & Silät Honatsi [La noche / The night], 2023 Hand-spun chaguar fibre, natural dyes and aniline dyes, woven fabric, "yica" stitch Framed: 170 x 148 cm (66 7/8 x 58 1/4 in) Unframed: 145 x 127 cm (57 1/8 x 50 in)](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/cbprojects/images/view/7d3d1874eb7219568cb67993765e92ccj.jpg)
![Claudia Alarcón & Silät Inawop [La primavera / Spring], 2023 Hand-spun chaguar fibre, natural dyes and aniline dyes, woven fabric, "yica" stitch Framed: 177 x 135 cm (69 3/4 x 53 1/8 in) Unframed: 159 x 104 cm (62 5/8 x 41 in)](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/cbprojects/images/view/e7c76c0e22a2b8c1c9d639aae8a8b875j.jpg)
![Detail: Claudia Alarcón, Ta’ni t’äj wet mak ta otakie [Caparazón de tortuga y el futuro / Tortoise shell and the future], 2023](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-cbprojects/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/366/cecilia_brunson_sept_-043_web.jpg)
![Detail: Claudia Alarcón, Ta’ni t’äj wet mak ta otakie [Caparazón de tortuga y el futuro / Tortoise shell and the future], 2023](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-cbprojects/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/366/cecilia_brunson_sept_-044_web.jpg)
![Claudia Alarcón Kates tsinhay [Mujeres estrellas / Star women], 2023 Hand-spun chaguar fibre. Natural dyes from the native forest. Woven fabric, "yica" stitch. Framed: 192 x 203 cm (75 5/8 x 79 7/8 in) Unframed: 175 x 181 cm (68 7/8 x 71 1/4 in) Signed bottom right](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/cbprojects/images/view/011b358dd03e6b2af2d19abce600dc04j.jpg)
![Claudia Alarcón Tewok Tes P'ante [El origen del río / The origin of the river], 2023 Recycled nylon, hand-spun, "yica" stitch. Framed: 210 x 195 cm (82 5/8 x 76 3/4 in) Unframed: 189 x 155 cm (74 3/8 x 61 in) Signed bottom right](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/cbprojects/images/view/b7c571b043b2ad2a4bb2fb9037998829j.jpg)
![Claudia Alarcón Ta’ni t’äj wet mak ta otakie [Caparazón de tortuga y el futuro / Tortoise shell and the future], 2023 Crocheted acrylic wool 156 x 127 cm 61 3/8 x 50 in Signed bottom right](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/cbprojects/images/view/77ead49edb0a5bf7e73664c5b583da81j.jpg)
