Antigone, diary of rituals N.1: White Thread and River Burial
Lara, Venezuela 2012
Antigone, diary of rituals N.1: White Thread and River Burial 2012Lara, VenezuelaHD video, audio, single-channel 13:17Camera: Livia Daza-Paris, Euro GarcíaPerformative action: Livia Daza-ParisEditor: Michael Poetschko
Antigone, diary of rituals N.1: White Thread and River Burial is part of a series of site-specific physical poems marking the land in rural Lara State, Venezuela. They commemorate the disappearances, including of my own father, caused by state violence in the 1960s during the insurgency movement. These rituals transform isolated mourning into a public activity as gestures of care across time and make claims to non-official history.
Created with support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Alcaldía de Morán in Lara, and Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura de Venezuela. Special thanks to Euro García for his support and participation in the creation of this work.
Created with support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Alcaldía de Morán in Lara, and Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura de Venezuela. Special thanks to Euro García for his support and participation in the creation of this work.
White Thread came from the following; I was given a bit of white oil paint in a small container by an old comrade of my father, Gromanski Lameda. It was to be used to write my father's name, Iván Daza, in one cross and Paramaconi, in the other. They were the two persons who were disappeared on that morning of January 1966.
I came by the bridge that now spans over the river they waded across that night before encountering the counterinsurgency army attack; I decided right then and there to trace my father's name with my own hands over this bridge with that bit of
I came by the bridge that now spans over the river they waded across that night before encountering the counterinsurgency army attack; I decided right then and there to trace my father's name with my own hands over this bridge with that bit of
white paint—since I did not have a brush with me. From the house where he was to take refuge the night before he was disappeared, I let a thread of paint mark the ground through the bridge to the other side.
The ritual River Burial took place in the icy, crystalline mountain waters near the town of Guaríco, Estado Lara. This area is part of the beginning of the Cordillera de Los Andes. The Estado Lara in Venezuela was one of the most vital areas of the country's 1960s insurgency movement. The images below are from that day.
The ritual River Burial took place in the icy, crystalline mountain waters near the town of Guaríco, Estado Lara. This area is part of the beginning of the Cordillera de Los Andes. The Estado Lara in Venezuela was one of the most vital areas of the country's 1960s insurgency movement. The images below are from that day.
Photos: Livia Daza-Paris
For more information: Livia Daza-Paris, At the edge of the (far-) End: an event revealed through rituals. ELSE Journal for International Art and Creative Media Issue 01. Published by Transart. Editor Teobaldo Lagos Preller. Peer-reviewed article. January 2016: https://en.calameo.com/read/003167138eee8c6d8ee56
Review by Albeley Rodriguez: La creación: un dolor trocado en vida vibrante Review by Constanza Rogatis: https://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=29887A Space Gallery: http://www.revolutionaryforms.org/uploads/2/8/0/2/28025631/grieving_empire.pdf
Review by Albeley Rodriguez: La creación: un dolor trocado en vida vibrante Review by Constanza Rogatis: https://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=29887A Space Gallery: http://www.revolutionaryforms.org/uploads/2/8/0/2/28025631/grieving_empire.pdf