Helyszín: Museo de la Isla de Cozumel
Megnyitó: 2025. február 20., 19 óra
Megnyitóbeszéd: Daniela Jáuregui

2025.február 20-án nyílt meg Chilf Mária képzőművész kiállítása az In Transition a mexikói Museo de la Isla de Cozumelben.
Kurátor: Varga Tünde

A kiállításban három mű szerepel: A Memory Catcher (Emlékfogó); Cenote Resonances (Cenote rezonanciák), valamint a kiállítás központi munka a Medicine Snake Project (Palaya del Carmen külterületein élő őslakos közösségek tagjainak és Daniela Jáuregui Servin, Consuelo Flores Toro, Varga Tünde közös munkájával megvalósuló mű).

Fotódokumentáció: Diego Rosado

Videó dokumentáció: Diego Macias Rosas

A kiállítás létrejöttét Sako Bomboceramica segítette.

Kiállításszöveg:

Mária Chilf’s In Transition exhibition at the Museum of the Island of Cozumel explores the intersection of Eastern European and Mexican cultures, aiming to create an entangled connection between the two regions. The exhibition, grounded in the visual and olfactory experience, challenges traditional narratives by offering a "down-to-earth" perspective that redefines the nature-culture divide. The exhibition highlights how cultural heritages from both regions intertwine, particularly through deeply rooted cultural objects that serve as carriers of memory.

A central element of the exhibition is a fisherman’s net, found in Cozumel, which holds cut-out images from both Eastern European and Mesoamerican traditions. This net symbolizes a “memory catcher,” reflecting the role of cultural objects in shaping identity and preserving cultural memory. Another key focus is the collective female labour represented through weaving and embroidery as a result of several workshops in collaboration with Mexican artist Daniela Jauregui director of Jaguar Negro Art Centre and under the management of teacher Consuelo del Toro of the collective ELEMENTAL, art and consciousness in expansion, artist from Riviera Maya, in commemoration of the year of the indigenous women (2025): the Medicine Snake Project. This project involved multicultural indigenous communities settled on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen’s (from Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Tabasco among others), who came together to share their indigenous knowledge of medicinal and poisonous plants, using Mesoamerican traditions of embroidery. The women’s collaboration symbolizes the weaving of both cultural knowledge and personal stories, connecting the past to the present.

Additionally, the exhibition explores the concept of water, a vital element of karst water caves in both regions. Water, symbolized through cyanotype and watercolour works, is presented as a life-sustaining force, integral to both cultural and ecological contexts. The exhibition emphasizes the importance of environmental and water justice, highlighting the interconnectedness of human rights, nature, and social justice.

Through In Transition, Chilf creates a space that merges cultural heritage, gender, and environmental issues, encouraging reflection on the challenges faced by indigenous communities. The exhibition ultimately advocates for social, political, and environmental justice, where all entities can thrive together.

The exhibition also presents the video work by Diego Macias, director of ALEBRIJES FILMS, created to document the workshops, the interviews with the group members and the community leaders. The photography documentation of the creators of these embroideries is another piece of the exhibition.

We would like to thank in advance the support of JAGUAR NEGRO art residence, Playa del Carmen for their support in the realization of this exhibition, in turn to the collective ELEMENTAL, art and consciousness in expansion for the management and the link in collaboration with Lic. Cesar Uuh Chi, Head of the Indigenous Affairs Unit of the Municipality of Solidaridad, Playa del Carmen Quintana Roo, to the production company ALEBRIJES FILMS for the documentation and interviews, as well as the photography of Diego Valle Rosado, to Verónica Ugalde for her collaboration and especially to the communities of El Sauce and Los Pájaros, the Las Torres de la Paz Community Center, the Francisco Villa community, the Torres del Tesoro extension and the CONAFE School of Las Torres, Section 1 and to its leaders for their support in the realization of this project.