100 Yicas & The Holobiente Trail

The Wichí are a population that inhabits the north of Argentina, next to a river that constantly changes course (the Pilcomayo). Since La Intermundial Holobiente’s project for documenta fifteen was a book (see Reading) — a specific cacophonous site that diplomatically translated what had been written (invisible to human eyes) by a Holobiente composed of the territory of Komposthaufen in Karls Auepark in Kassel, Germany— I was invited to collaborate with the Tewok Cultural Centre (a Wichí cultural space, created by community Santa Victoria II, at Santa Vicotoria, Salta, Argentina). Together we designed another book based on a series of workshops that after a walk in the forest seeking for pereidolic entities as main characters of a story conceived by the kids (4-16 years old) entangeled with the Wichí cosmovision, that was better articulated by Candela and Karina Mendoza (two bilingual intercultural teachers in Wichí-Spanish). We rewrote the story that the children of the community decided to share with the children visiting documenta fifteen (especially kassel people).

Claudia Fontes, created complementary activities inspired in doodle books for kids, inviting the reading of the story. Thus we created a book: Die Spur der Holobients [The Trace of Holobients]. The young people in Kassel could borrow a Wichí bag (yica or in wich’i hilu] with a copy of the book and tools to reply to the Wichí children’s story. In this book, there is a meeting between the Wichí and German worlds, to play, draw, trace, and write about what one can imagine of a nature-culture different from one another. Once these books are filled, the bags have return to Santa Victoria Este where the community lives. “100 Yicas” was designed to share the stories woven in the bags.

The video was presented at RuruKids in Kassel and served as a complement to the activity. Scripted by Isabel Ruarte & Karina Mendoza, It primarily aimed to showcase what the Wichí community wanted to share about their relationships with non-human beings, even through their traditional writing of weaving.

Invited by La Intermundial Holobiente, Lumbung artist of documenta fifteen, in collaboration with the Centro Cultural Tewok and with the support the National Cultural Heritage Secretary of Argentina. Buenos Aires and it was developed partially at Santa Victoria Este, Salta, NW of Argentina, 2022.