Daniasa M. Curbelo, Ninf.A, and Carla Marzán present the exhibition “Retomando el centro” – Reclaiming the Center -, in which they show the results of the exploratory processes that took place during their art residency at Vega de Agua. During May 2023, the three artists have lived together in the municipality of Ingenio, in the island of Gran Canaria. This experience has led them to develop a collective practice focused on research and co creation.

Curated by Jorge Esda and Javier Estupiñán, founders of Vega de Agua, the project tries to focus on the Canary Islands not as a periphery, but as the center of their own realities, ideas, and bodies. “Retomando el centro” aims to challenge the classical conception of the archipelago and strives to contribute, through an artistic practice, to the transformation of the territory and the collective memory of the Canary Islands.

The showcased works are also strongly inspired by the set of activities carried out throughout the residency, as well as by the 5 sessions of “Retomando el centro: Foro del Agua”, a participatory forum organized by Vega de Agua in collaboration with philosopher Larisa Pérez Flores. Themes such as historical memory, logics of representation, and decolonialism have a strong presence in the exhibited works.

When entering the main hall, the visitor encounters “Acequia”, a collaborative work in which the three resident artists propose complex coexistences between organic and synthetic materials, between remote and future elements. The piece also establishes a link between body and architecture through a combination of industrial roof tiles with the so-called “musleras” roof tiles, that were made with the traditional method, by using the artists’ own thighs. In “Acequia,” the water becomes a central element through which to observe, think, and feel.

Individual and collective pieces are presented in a space in which all the results are part of a community experience. Ninf.A’s work focuses on fashion to suggest a temporal collapse that blurs the boundaries between the past and future of a territory. In a space where the distinction between the public and the private sphere dissolves, Daniasa M. Curbelo’s performative actions question the logics of visibility and representation that articulate the identity frameworks of the Canary Islands. Carla Marzán starts with a family photo to delve into a collective wound. Carlos M.J. @charlesitus collaborates in the exhibition by designing the figure of the “cyber-Garoé”, alluding to the sacred tree for the Bimbache population on the Canary island of El Hierro.

Meanwhile, sound artist Sam Am unleashes a sound wave that creates a dialogue with the pieces at specific moments while exploring the syncretic universe of the Canary Islands.

— Jorge Esda and Javier Estupiñán