Cecilia Vicuña - Brain Forest Quipu at Tate Modern Turbine Hall

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

 

Chilean artist & poet, Cecilia Vicuña, is currently exhibiting her Brain Forest Quipu in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, London.  Her installation references the Andean Quechua people's use of the quipu or knot, used instead of writing to record and remember things such as statistics, poems and stories.  Vicuña calls the quipu "a poem in space". They originated 5000 years ago and were banned after the European conquest in the 16th century. Many were burnt and destroyed at that time but their symbolism remains part of Andean culture today although the exact meanings behind their formations and colours is not now known.

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

This multimedia installation is an act of mourning for the destruction of the rainforests and its subsequent effect on climate change and the violence against indigenous peoples.  The installation comprises 3 elements. Firstly, two Dead Forest Quipu sculptures which are 27m textile pieces hanging from the ceiling.  These include different materials woven together with found objects, unspun wool, plant fibres, rope and cardboard. Then there is a Sound Quipu including indigenous music, silences, new pieces by Colombian composer Ricardo Gallo and field recordings from nature. And lastly a Digital Quipu which shows films of indigenous activists and land defenders from around the world who are using digital platforms to get their voices heard.

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

Some of the items included in the sculptures were collected from the banks of the River Thames by women from local Latin American communities.  This is typical of Vicuña's use of modest, imperfect found materials which she calls "precarios" (precarious)

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

The bone white colour of the sculptures evokes the bleached bark of trees killed by drought or intentional fire or other dried out substances like snakeskin.

Cecilia Vicuña - Dead Forest Quipu (detail)

I saw this when also visiting the Magdalena Abakanowicz exhibition - plenty of textile art on show to whet your appetite! 

The Cecilia Vicuna exhibition is on until 16 April 2023.