"MEMORY OF THE LIVING SPACES" - [October 2022]

The communities of the Nuba Mountains have many practices that are performed in open spaces, in which all members of the community contribute in an authentic way that guarantees them the preservation of the cultural heritage of the tribe and the smooth transmission of it through generations. These societies have exceeded the expression of sole body movement, and went to move their bodies while they are in a state of stability through the small inscriptions and decorations that they draw on their faces and bodies to show different and innovative forms of expression of the ritual they perform. The local knowledge of these communities is formed from the basic content of the local culture that carries a certain meaning for the community. The ritual practice represents the backbone of the local cultural content of the group, which has certain meanings and values ​​that contribute to the formation of the body movement that is performed. When analyzing the movement of the body and knowing some of its cultural connotations, a concept can be formed of the way in which a complete perception of life and its secrets is created. 

There is a living memory in these societies that works on reviving the cultural component. This memory is transmitted between generations through the close link between the members of society and what is conceptualized in their imaginations of visual images performed physically through different ritual practices in open spaces. The works in the exhibition try to find a visual equivalent to what is going on in their imagination according to the artist's visualization and understanding of that imagination, which produced a tremendous kinetic and decorative impetus when performing the ritual practices through their bodies. This close connection between the members of the societies and this physical movement can be understood, as it represents for them a perception of the desired value and the meaning around which they converge, this perception which forms part of the local knowledge of these societies and which contributes to human knowledge in its entirety. 

It is possible to take advantage of the visual formulas of the fixed and changing movement patterns of the body positions in extracting a visual knowledge of the movement and its cultural implications, which appear in the collective activities that are practiced in the context of daily action in open spaces. There is an influential relationship that exists between the ritual practices that lead in open spaces and the visual arts. This relationship can be developed by taking advantage of the analytical ability of the arts, to understand and stimulate visual phenomena, which would link these movements with their cultural implications, and build a visual memory that confirms the connection with the living spaces of collective cultural activities.