Wixarika Mundus: The Flight Of The Blue Deer by Eduardo Cortes

Sponsors

Special thanks to: Uriel and Melissa Camarena, Anna Marie Giefer, Guillermo CortĂŠs, Boriana Strzok, Jerry Allan, Jay Coogan, Lars Mason, Ernesto de la Vega, Karla Zequinelli, and Eduardo Oses.

We are INDIGENIA, a multidisciplinary collective that gathers people from different backgrounds and disciplines in order to creatively ideate solutions for the problems that indigenous communities may have. Wixárika Mundus: The Flight of the Blue Deer is our first campaign. All the proceeds from this campaign will go towards implementing sustainable and ecological water collecting solutions for the Wixárika community in San José del Bajío. Your participation in Wixárika Mundus is vital and will help this community access the water they are in desperate need of. Pamparios!

THE COMMUNITY San JosĂŠ del BajĂo is a community of fifty members in the Sierra Madre Occidental in northern Jalisco, a place that faces a high drought rate. This community has no pure drinking water for a large portion of the year, their crops are sparse and their economical power is very limited. In the past year, four members of this community passed away due to the lack of pure drinking water as well as extended malnutrition. They work hard to conserve their culture and traditions; which includes their annual pilgrimage towards Wirikuta, the land of their sacred desert and where they believe the sun was born. 3

In their day-to-day life they sow, feed their few animals, contemplate nature and handcraft their niĂŠrika. The niĂŠrika is a sacred art that expresses in a creative and complex way the visions they have when they consume peyote (hĂkuri), which is a part of their sacred rituals. This everyday life is intermixed with their constant religious practices. They see the Earth as the mother of all, and the Sun and Fire as the grandfathers. They connect with nature through chants, periods of silence, walks, fasts, prayers, and other practices. All this in order to gain consciousness as to how to lead their lives and to gain understanding of their individual and collective purpose in their community. 4

In our present time, discussion revolves around the objective of philosophy and art. It is common to hear about how our world is in a state of crisis and how nothing can repair it against the imminent social, economic and ecological disasters. However, when we look at indigenous people, living in their natural territories and conducting their lives in the same way their ancestors did, they confront whatever challenges arise with great enthusiasm. The people of San José del Bajío inspire us to believe that art is a collective process, capable of transmitting devotion for nature and life. The first seed of this gallery exhibition was planted two years ago, thanks to our Wiraritari brothers’ yearning to be recognized and promote their sacred art in order to maintain their traditions and better their precarious life conditions. Today, we have the honor of presenting the work that artists from five different countries donated for this exhibition. They all hold a social vision in their practice and perform their art as an act of empowerment, fraternity and social transformation. These sixteen creators came together for The Flight of the Blue Deer and embraced the high motivation of bringing water to a Wixárika community. To all of them we owe the honor of this first exhibition of Wixárika Mundus. The world is for those who come together!

TUTÚ TÉMAI Tutú Témai was born on March 6, 1987 in San José del Bajío, in the mountains of Jalisco. His father Haiwatame is a mara’akame (shaman) with a good heart, that always told him and his family to keep on going and to always be proud of their culture. Tutú has lived his whole life in the mountains. “Since I was twelve years old I wanted to get married and live well, eat well. I lived with my father in Nayarit for some time, and also in Tepic and Guadalajara, but my heart missed the mountains and my people. I got married with Awkue, who is a jewelry artist. Ever since I came back to the mountains I have worked in the field and felt the earth in my hands. A year after I came back, my daughter Maxra was born. She fills my heart with joy, she is intelligent, has a beautiful smile and graceful eyes. A few years later our second born daughter died in our arms, sick from the lack of clean, drinkable water. For this I decided to work for my culture; for our traditions, life and world vision, in order for us to have better living conditions and for our culture to be known throughout the world.”

Niérika Cabeza de toro, 2013 Beads, wax on bone 22 ¾ x 12 ¼” W: 18 ½

XUKÚRIMA Xukúrima means “sacred bowl” in the Wixárika language. The Xukúrima is used in rituals as the water and the sacred deer’s blood carrier, as well as used to place the first slices of the sacred híkuri in Wixárika rituals. Xukúrima is a protector of the fountain of life. Xukúrima is an eighteen-year-old artist, who learned to make niérika when she was only seven years old under the tutelage of her father. Making wooden pieces is her favorite kind of niérika elaboration, but she also enjoys making jewelry. Xukúrima has left her community in San José del Bajío with the goal to study in Mexico City. This places her in a new spectrum of Wixárika identity: young people who observe certain aspects of their culture (like the production of niérika) but stray away from other traditions (like the participation in season rituals). “I want to conserve my culture; however, I want a different lifestyle from the one I had in my community. I enjoy going to school while simultaneously creating niérika. This eagle with a snake is from a story my father told me when I was a child. It is a way to remember from where I come from and where I belong.”

Niérika Águila y Serpiente, 2013 Beads, wax on wood 15 ½ x 14 ¼” W: 5”

ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ HERMOSILLO Esteban is a self-made artist, a student of Urbanism at the University of Guadalajara, his work has been exhibited at the Museo de la Ciudad alongside other work in an exhibition dedicated to the Wixárika community in Guadalajara, Jalisco. “Each moment is an experience, and each experience is georeferenced. The mind is the bridge that perceives geographic experiences, but at the same time can project dream-like experiences. In this visual work, represented as a cartography of the dreams, the intention is to seek the relationship that exists between the physical world which we inhabit and the vast and infinite world of dreams; and that this expression our mind acknowledges, in each meditation, each dream, when it demonstrates its truth, the landscape represented in this series, to that of the landscape we experience each night, when we travel in between dreams.”

Dream Geo-Morphology #1, #2, #3, 2013 Digital prints 28 ½ x 40 ¼”

BOBBY ROGERS Bobby Rogers is a Minneapolis based illustrator and designer. His process embraces an integration of hyper-realistic graphite drawing and experimental design. By building a visceral impression and exploring various extremes he attempts to evoke multiple degrees of nostalgia, romanticism, and elegance. “With Venado Azul the idea was to showcase the blue deer, one of the four principal deities worshiped in the Wixárika tradition, as the sacred and euphoric avatar that it is. The physique powerful and indestructible; an aura that is radiant and compassionate. These elements are reinforced by two powerfully vigorous pillars.”

Venado Azul, 2014 Digital print 24 x 33â&#x20AC;? 14

ANA LAURA JUAREZ Ana Laura is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates vulnerability and oppression as it relates to gender, landscape, culture and personal history. “De Color y Flor is an abstract and imaginative look at my own identity as a Mexican American. Inspired by the intensity of color in Wixárika clothing and artwork, as well as their harvest of plant life, I portray a fictional indigenous entity. It wears a headpiece made up of calla lilies and foliage to embrace it’s own connection and cultivation of the earth. My involvement in this benefit reflects the urgency to voice native communities, in particular the Wixárika people, and to recognize and support their existence in the face of greed.”

De Color y Flor, 2013 Screen print 21 x 28 ½” 16

ZACH STOEBNER Zach Stoebner is an artist/designer operating out of a cozy studio in NE Minneapolis. Mr. Stoebner’s work reflects his infatuation of color, pattern, and people watching. Often using every color at his disposal, his work employs a heavy use of repetition of mark making; from thick globs of acrylic to tons of pen and ink marks, capitalizing more on individual moments than one grand image. “I believe that giving to anyone willing to ask for help is an important part of leading a satisfactory life. If I can give a bit of art, time, and paint then, hopefully, I have done my job as an artist.”

Fixed Up, 2014 Acrylic watercolor and silicone on canvas 16 x 20â&#x20AC;?

GONZALO RUELAS Gonzalo is an artist born and raised in Mexico City. He has spent the last five years of his life living in Italy, dedicating himself entirely to painting. He has studied both in Milan and Florence, this last place being his choice of residency where he studies painting at Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Accademia Di Belle Arti. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The road that is chosen to follow towards the culmination of all the experiences, sentiments and moments leads to a black hole vortex of life. Spinning into a constant turmoil of the moments that lead up to this point spits us out only to encounter another path which leads to the unknown, a cyclone which completes the cycle and begins a new. The colors painted with vigor and calculated spontaneity represent this never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth that is the essence and equilibrium of life and the universe.â&#x20AC;?

Untitled #1, #2, #3, 2012 Mixed media on canvas 23 ¼ x 46 ¾”

GRANT DeMESQUITA A Minneapolis College of Art and Design photography student, Grant recorded a visual memory of Wixárika Mundus in their events at L’Accademia Di Belle Arti and Cuculia Libreria e Ristorante in Florence, Italy. “During my studies in Florence, Italy, I began to obsess over symmetry, my mind was drawn to this perfect form. Like the mandalas of Carl Jung, each image became a scrying surface into my subconscious. The fantastic nature of my journey glimpsed in a mirrors reflection. I wanted to have my work shown in this exhibition to help the cause of the Wixárika indigenous people, for them to continue their way of life, which is deeply rooted with art.”

From the Mountain #1, #2, #3, #4, 2014 Digital prints 16 x 20â&#x20AC;?

PABLO PIZA Pablo Piza is an artist born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mexican indigenous art and Mexican muralists, inspired by surrealist and abstract forms, influence his art. “Art is the construction and destruction of the being, something that is always in movement, being constructed and visually compelling at all times; the expression of a vision, of the natural human process. I believe that collaboration is vital in conserving our tribal and indigenous cultures. For me, the Wixárika are a projection of color, religion and impact, and we must help each other to keep a balance and coexist as a society.”

No te vayas todavía, 2014 Pen and acrylics on paper 28 ½ x 40 ¼”

JAMES ANTONIO SULLCA VEGA Autodidact and influenced by a rich environment of artistic history, however an alien culture, James Antonio is a Peruvian born street artist living and working in Florence, Italy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea of being able to help in whichever way possible is motivating to me. Painting is the most honest and sincere way in which I can communicate what I think and feel. My grandparents are from a small town in the Andes, for this I identify with the indigenous communities of the world and believe in the brotherhood of the people who live on the same earth.â&#x20AC;?

Venado Azul, 2014 Oil on canvas 23 ½ x 31” 26

THE FLIGHT OF THE BLUE DEER photography contest winners From September to October 2014 INDIGENIA launched their first photography contest “The Flight of the Blue Deer.” The response was enthusiastic. Ernesto de la Vega, Karla Zequinelli and Eduardo Oses, members of this year’s panel of judges, selected the winning photographs. The outstanding work of Jarumi Dávila López, David Córdova Morales and Gabriela Vasco Chávez were selected to display their photographs in this year’s gallery.

GABRIELA VASCO CHÁVEZ “Tao Témai’s particular gaze is quite punctual as is his expression after observing. I made this piece because his stare is an abyss of stories in retrospective, projected today with his serene expression, without forgetting what exists. Tao holds much knowledge, of which I would like to learn from. I consider participating with INDIGENIA important because I believe they are performing a great task with indigenous cultures, and it is an important part for the identity of our nation.”

Tao Témai, 2014 Digital print 13 x 19”

DAVID CÓRDOVA MORALES This work is part of a series titled “Semana Santa Wixárika”, Wixárika Holy Week, made during that week in 2014. It was developed thanks to David’s interest in the indigenous communities of Mexico, traditional medicine, shamanism, and self-identity as an indigenous descendant. “My photographic vision seeks to depict what this culture has been like since its beginnings to the present day. The photo Tierra Sagrada (Holy Land) portrays a Wixárika woman with her traditional attire in the XXI century, in contrast to the imposing Sierra Madre Occidental, which has been a witness to the Wixárika way of life for centuries. I believe collaboration is important to raise awareness of the situation, at times very difficult, that indigenous people face in Mexico and in the rest of the world as well.”

Tierra Sagrada, 2014 Digital prints 13 x 19â&#x20AC;?

Incienso, 2014 Digital prints 13 x 19â&#x20AC;?

JARUMI DÁVILA LÓPEZ “In July 2010 I had the joy of going up to Cerro Quemado, located in the Real de Catorce hills of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Upon reaching the top of the hill, the view captivated me. I felt sublime, the encounter with infinity determinedly marked my life: listening to the dialogue between the hills, the rocks, the wind, the clouds, the sky, and my being. I asked myself, what is in this place, what is it that transmits this enormous energy of pure vitality? And it was in that moment that I was able to comprehend the relationship with that which is beyond words.”

El que sabe soñar, 2013 Digital prints 13 x 19” 33

Kipuri, 2013 Digital prints 13 x 19â&#x20AC;?

ANGELA CITLALI VANCE live performance

Angela Citlali is a student at the McNally Smith College of Music, majoring in music composition and songwriting. She is a passionate singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. Being from Chicago and Mexico City, she fuses these two worlds into her empowering music. From her summer trips to Mexico, her talented grandfather has largely influenced her, and her Chicana culture is one of the many factors that developed her unique artistry. She wishes to use her original music as a vehicle for social change.

LEISEYLENTO (KATJA VON HELLDORFF, CRISTIAN FORTE & NACHO BUK) Cosas raras para el desierto, 2014 Soundscape with musical handsaw, guitar and analogical textures 13:30 min Leiseylento is composed of three multidisciplinary artists, one of belge and two of argentinian descent. They have created, in Berlin, a delicate electroacoustic sound with a performance which flirts both with poetry and politics. In their own words “its like as if a space cake fell silently and unexpectedly upon the Earth.” “Cosas raras para el desierto gave us the liberty to try new sounds and a new topography of the sound piece. We define it as not only music, but scenery. Letting yourself be taken by the sounds, thinking about distant lands of which one has only fantasies and inspiration. It is a form of time and space travel. We are interested in supporting initiatives that are dedicated to preserving minority cultures and movements especially when it concerns the struggle, David and Goliath style, against the privatization of resources and land, which always implies the waste of practices both diverse and traditional. We believe that the land belongs to those who live on it, not to the ones that by money and force appropriate it.”

MARK HIMLEY El vuelo del venado azul, 2014 Electric guitar 6:16 min Mark Himley is an aspiring composer based out of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. His goal is to use music as a tool to evoke powerful emotion, and to support the responses in other forms of media and art. “I chose to do this project because I have a deep respect for the culture, and a desire to get involved in making a difference in the world through music and art.”

Concept: INDIGENIA & Wixárika Mundus Direction and curation: Magdalena Cortés Production: Magdalena Cortés, Ana Sofía Gómez and Eduardo Cortés Co-Production: Ismael Muñoz and Cristina Guzmán Copy and editorial: Beatriz Paz Video production: Gabriela Vasco Catalogue, invitation and display material design: Eduardo Cortés Gallery instalation and direction: Lars Mason and Rachel Jennings Printer: MCAD Service Bureau INDIGENIA’s rock and inspiration: Tutú Témai Pamparios!

THE WORLD IS FOR THOSE WHO COME TOGETHER