JOURNEYS FROM THE SOUTH ARGENTINE ARTWORK, WORKSHOPS AND PERFORMANCES AT THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM’S FRIDAY LATE

“From indigenous materials to ancestral technologies, July’s Friday Late looks to the tradition of craftsmanship in Argentina and its continuing influence on the country’s contemporary art and design. Pay homage to the Argen- tinean landscape with a tapestry installation inspired by the grassland and hear about how current fashion designers are using traditional Munachi cult dolls to bring hand-weaving skills back to life. Join us for a true fiesta as we celebrate Argentina’s cultural roots through design, art and music”.

V&A PRESENTS FRIDAY LATE JOURNEYS FROM THE SOUTH - FRIDAY 31 JULY PROGRAM COVER DESIGN Souvenir Program wrap created by Argentinian-based illustrator Christian Montenegro. www.christianmontenegro.com.ar On 31 July 2015, Argentine art and design took centre stage on London’s cultural scene with an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the world’s most important design, fashion and visual arts museum.

This Victorian building located in South Kensington has 45,000 square meters of exhibition space and 145 rooms and galleries that store a total of 2.7 million objects: ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewellery, photography, sculpture, textiles and paintings.

The exhibition – the first one entirely devoted to a Latin American country at a Friday Late – was organised by the Embassy of Argentina in London together with the V&A. These thematic events, held on the last Friday in every month, when the V&A stays open until 10 pm, are attended by thousands of people who participate in performances that explore the chosen subject.

To this end we called on 12 Argentine artists representing our different regions and forms of artistic expressions. Their projects went through a rigorous process of selection and coordination with the museum curators.

The exhibition, called Journeys from the South, invited the public to explore Argentina’s varied land- scapes and traditional art techniques through a number of cultural references, sounds, rituals and local tapestry.

With a broad range of artwork, workshops and performances spread out across the rooms of the museum, our artists exhibited to a vast audience that packed the main hall, galleries and gardens. V&A officials confirmed that a total of 6,843 people attended, the highest number of participants on a Friday Late since they were launched in 1999.

“Culture is a tool that allows to positively change perceptions on a country. Argentina, that has lead avant-garde expressions in visual arts, literature and design, has gained its right to exhibit at the V&A, one of the most important design museums in the world. We are very proud to promote Argentine art and cultural industries in the UK”, Ambassador Alicia Castro stated, in the company of the artists who came to London especially for this event.

ARTISTS AND EXHIBITIONS EKEKO ALTAR BY CHIACHIO & GIANNONE (Grand Entrance)

In the magnificent main hall of the museum, Chiachio and Giannone installed an Ekeko altar that, as a symbol of welcome and blessing, received the visitors. The artists recreated a typical ritual of the Argentine Northwest in the heart of the V&A, throwing confetti or “cosmic dust” several times throughout the evening. In this kitsch reinterpretation of a tradition that calls for prosperity and good fortune, the artists portrayed themselves as iconic figures placed upon the altar. The audience enthu- siastically participated in the ritual, as done traditionally by the Altiplano peoples, bringing various offerings that included cigars, confetti and other elements.

PAINT THE JUNGLE BY CHIACHIO & GIANNONE (Learning Centre)

In a room where their tapestries were displayed, Chiachio and Giannone held a workshop where participants were invited to take part in their crea- tive process by drawing on a transparent curtain the flora of a lush jungle of the province of Misiones. This way, the public became part of a collec- tive creation.

Leo Chiachio and Daniel Giannone are an artist couple whose main format is embroidery, with which they create large format pieces portraying themselves in different landscapes and as char- acters of different cultures.

www.chiachiogiannone.com

ON EDUCATION BY AMALIA PICA (Weston Cast Court)

Amalia Pica presented On Education, a video that shows her painting an equestrian monument, exploring the significance of such monuments in the history and culture of nations, and their role as instruments of civic education.

Pica also gave a lecture in which she discussed her research into metaphor, communication and citizen participation through drawings, sculptures, large-scale photographic prints, live shows and installations.

Amalia Pica is an Argentine artist based in London. Using simple materials, she creates conceptually rigorous works of art, address- ing fundamental issues of communication - such as emission and reception of messages - and the various ways that these exchanges can take.

www.heraldst.com/amalia-pica

PACHA MUNACHIS BY CARLOS GRONDA & ARTURO TEZANOS PINTO (Medieval & Renaissance Room)

In an enquiry into their own cultural identity, designers from USOS of Jujuy, Carlos Gronda and Arturo Tezanos Pinto, provided an installation of Pacha Munachi, wooden dolls - whose name alludes to the Pacha Mama - reinterpreted in androgynous robotic formats. The public was invited to dress and decorate the 19 dolls with clothes and accessories typical of the Argentina Northwest, little ponchos and tupos, designed and made espe- cially for the occasion.

Each Pacha Munachi doll bears the mark of every individual involved in the process of making it, from the designer to the person who selected the wood. Gronda and Tezanos Pinto’s modern, gender neutral take on the dolls distinguishes them from traditional style.

Carlos Gronda and Arturo Tezanos Pinto are the creators of USOS, located in the province of Jujuy. This design company includes an architecture, interior design and furniture studio, a factory and an experimental laboratory used to explore different forms of creative expression. Their starting points are the roots and history of their land, magical places and traditions of the Argentine Northwest where they produce their work with a contemporary vision.

www.usos.com.ar

TALISMAN DOLLS BY LUJÁN CAMBARIERE (Medieval & Renaissance Room)

Luján Cambariere organised a workshop where she explored, along with the public, the value of dolls in Latin American culture as powerful talis- mans that enhance female intuition and its healing powers. Using origi- nal techniques and native materials, participants in this workshop were able to create their own dolls and take them home.

Manto Abrigos, an Argentine company specializing in contemporary clothing and handcrafted objects, provided the materials for this activity: sewing kits, painted fabrics, accessories and hand-woven objects made of sheep and llama wool.

Luján Cambariere is a journalist and researcher based in Buenos Aires, specializing in design and social inclusion. Since 2000 she has been editor of the architecture section of the Página 12 news- paper and since 2005 the design editor of Barzón Magazine. She also runs ATICO, a space for seminars, workshops, conferences and classes of various handcraft disciplines and techniques.

www.lujancambariere.com

PATHS BY ALEXANDRA KEHAYOGLOU (China Room)

The artist Alexandra Kehayoglou installed a 28 metres long carpet called Senderos (Paths), a textile sculpture that pays homage to native land- scapes, inspired by the cattle trails in the Pampas. The public was able to walk along the carpet.

Alexandra Kehayoglou creates tapestry sculptures inspired by a family craft tradition of carpet weaving that embraces the techni- cal production process and carries it through to a conceptual performance art form. She is primarily interested in the produc- tion processes linking art to craft and developing a functional work of art, where the knowledge of materials, technique and the unifying concept of the work are combined as inseparable compo- nents.

www.alexkeha.com

LOOM BOOM COLLABORATION PROJECT (Tapestry Room)

The documentary film Loom Boom Collaboration Project was presented. This work by Miranda Castro was produced in Buenos Aires and San Juan, one of the few provinces in Argentina to have kept the hand weaving loom tradition alive.

The film records the collaborative creative process undertaken by fashion designer Julia Schang Vitón and textile artisan Miriam Atencio. It explores the history and current use of loom technique – stressing the value of tradition and its continuity throughout the generations – and considers its potential for the design of contemporary garments. This work also celebrates the use of llama fiber native to Argentina and presents the Programa Camélidos de los Andes (Andean Camelid Program) in the pro- vince of San Juan, which promotes the repopulation of these animals.

The eight piece capsule collection which resulted from this collaboration project was also on display. Julia Schang Viton has created five collections that have esta- blished her as one of the most interesting designers among emerging talents in Buenos Aires.

Miriam Atencio is a fashion designer and artisan who, following a family tradition, has spent the last five years studying the loom.

Both share an interest in exploring their Argentine identity through their creations and consider materials to be a core element of their collections.

www.schangviton.com.ar www.facebook.com/miriam.atencio.1?_rdr=p www.cargocollective.com/mirandacastro

Click here to watch the film: www.vimeo.com/121161954

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY MELMANN (Madejski Garden)

The musician and composer Melmann gave two concerts in the V&A garden creating a “sound tandem” between Argentina and the UK, combining sound, acoustic instruments and electronic music, evoking Argentine soundscapes. He used texts by Jorge Luis Borges and field recordings of Leda Valladares in Tucuman (coplas, bagualas, etc.), enga- ging them in a dialogue with those of ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, made in the streets of various UK cities.

Melmann is an artist from Buenos Aires who combines different musical genres, using both analogue electronic music and acous- tic instruments.

www.melmann.com.ar

LEARN TO TANGO WITH TANGO THE LIGHT (Raphael Gallery)

Tango The Light organised tango classes in the Raphael Gallery, one of the most spectacular rooms in the museum, bringing together hundreds of couples who danced to our “two by four”.

Tango The Light is a London based Argentine tango centre founded by Luciano Brizzi, an Argentine living in London. It partici- pates in the UK Tango Festival and in many other events related to tango and Argentine culture.

www.tangothelight.com www.uktangofestival.com

ARGENTINA 15 BY JAMIE JENKINSON (Medieval & Renaissance Room)

Argentina 15 are a series of videos taken with an iPhone which document the journey of two Englishmen in Buenos Aires and other regions of Argentina.

Jamie Jenkinson is a British artist who creates videos using consumer products such as mobile phones, as a way of producing unconventional images, often abstract.

www.jamiejohnjamesjenkinson.com HOMAGE TO JULIO CORTÁZAR

A series of activities were devoted to Argentine literature with a special focus on the work of Julio Cortázar. Professor Ben Bollig gave a lecture on the novel Rayuela (Hopscotch), British actor Pericles Snowdon read some texts by the author and artist César Baracca drew hopscotches in the museum garden.

LECTURE ON JULIO CORTÁZAR BY PROFESSOR BEN BOLLIG (National Art Library)

Professor Ben Bollig gave a lecture on Rayuela (Hopscotch), the novel in which Julio Cortázar established a new paradigm in Argentine literature and contributed to a global boom for Latin American writers. In his pre- sentation, Bollig discussed the author's creative encounters with cinema, comics and other visual arts.

Ben Bollig is Professor of Latin American literature and film at the University of Oxford.

www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/bollig

CORTÁZAR READINGS BY PERICLES SNOWDON (Madejski Garden)

In the garden of the V&A, actor Pericles Snowdon recited in front of a large audience a selection of texts by the Argentine author: Continuity of the Parks (End of the game, 1956), I touch your mouth (Hopscotch, chapter 7, 1963) and Instructions on how to climb a staircase (Stories of Cronopios and Famas, 1962).

Pericles Snowdon is a playwright and actor who is part of the cast of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

www.offwestend.com/images/about_pericles.pdf Ben Bollig is Professor of Latin American literature and film at the University of Oxford.

www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/bollig

HOPSCOTCHES BY CÉSAR BARACCA (Madejski Garden)

Artist César Baracca designed a series of hopscotches in the museum garden, evoking childhood memories while referring at the same time to Hopscotch’s narrative structure as a novel which can be read in different sequences of chapters. Thousands of visitors, both children and adults, enjoyed this creation and played hopscotch.

César Baracca is an artist from Rosario, Argentina, based in London. His most recent exhibitions include group shows held at the National Portrait Gallery in London and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires. He has also showcased his work indi- vidually at the Zizi Gallery Mayfair in London and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rosario.

www.cesarbaracca.com

ARTISTS’ TESTIMONIES

“It was an enriching experience that greatly exceeded our expectations, since we were able to transcend language barriers and capture the attention of the public who came spontaneously to join us. Collective energy produced an extraordinary large format drawing: a great jungle. The festive atmosphere - albeit one of focused attention - remained throughout. Once again art allowed us to affirm that a recreational activity or a festive offering can erase all language and cultural barriers”. “To land at the most important and beautiful art and design museum in the world means a lot. Personally, it was a dream I would have never dared to dream, mostly because it meant CHIACHIO & GIANNONE exhibiting my most personal and longest standing research. Almost a prize, one could say. To experience such a strong and emotional connection with people is very moving, something I still feel in my body. This Friday Late showed that when we speak of core values - such as passion, intuition, instinct, childhood, roots, games - the language is the same, proving once again that culture is definitely the best bridge for getting to know each other”.

LUJÁN CAMBARIERE “It was a great pleasure to participate in the V&A’s Friday Late, dedicated to Argentine art and culture, with a lecture on the work of Julio Cortázar held at the National Art Library, from where we could all see César Baracca’s hopscotches in the main garden. I was able to share with the audience some "I’ve kept the sight of that enormous museum in my mind, the ideas about the importance of hopscotch as an organising world contained in it, the flow of people, the constant concept and key image in the book, as well as the importance movement and Senderos/Paths there, on that beautiful floor, of Cortázar today. I also discussed the novel and other traversed by other pathways. Installing Senderos across these aspects of the Argentine writer's work with the audience”. rooms is an experience I will treasure forever. Thank you”.

ALEXANDRA KEHAYOGLOU BEN BOLLIG “Lots of interest and response from the public, who participated actively and attentively in all the activities in an event in which thousands of people circulated while many were not able to get in. Many approached me with great curiosity and interest in the materials I was using (both the recordings and the instruments). Honour and gratitude. “I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to display our project in the world’s most prestigious design museum. The act of recovering our traditional techniques, values and culture bring us together and enhances our identity as a MELMANN country. By showing ourselves and our work we become a link between the past and the future. What most caught my attention was the interest of the public. Many people stayed to watch the film twice and to ask questions about the process. Some were not able to get in due to the museum reaching its full capacity”.

JULIA SCHANG VITÓN “We are aware of the effort it takes to put on an exhibition, of the amount of work involved in order to get a good result. Everything that took place on this Friday Late looked wonderful. We can only express gratitude, because in this way we can continue to show our culture and what can be done in Jujuy and throughout the whole Andean region to which we belong”. “When two dancers connect it becomes magical. Undoubtedly, to have organised a milonga in a room filled with such great Raphael artworks has been an unprecedented CARLOS GRONDA experience, almost a miracle”.

LUCIANO BRIZZI “There were many activities taking place at the same time, almost like a 'Happening'. The beauty of the physical space, the thousands of people attending that night gave me a feeling of incredulity because of the sense of vertigo produced by the combination between space and people”.

CÉSAR BARACCA VICTORIA AND ALBERT’S MUSEUM ONLINE ALBUM: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fridaylate/20187286972/