Curator

Ñandutí: Indigenous and Modern Artworks of Paraguay

Academic

collector

gallerist

Ogwa Flores Balbuena

Since the 1990s, members of indigenous communities have begun carving out a new space for drawing and painting, which did not figure in traditional culture. The first person known to become, or identify with, being an artist was Ogwa (1938?-2008), born in the Chaco Boreal (Alto Paraguay), a region bordering Bolivia. His Paraguayan name was Pedro Flores Balbuena, given to him by anthropologist Branislava Sušnik as a young boy. It was the same anthropologist that gave Ogwa a pencil asking him to draw pictures of the Ishír (Yshyr) Chamacoco’s, his community’s, traditions. For representing the ancient secrets of Ishír culture, which was not meant to be drawn and dispersed, to the many who sought to learn about it, Ogwa was ostracised from his community. While traditional Ishír art was mainly expressed in geometric motifs, in his figurative work, Ogwa depicted childhood memories, shamanic rituals and spirits and deities of rivers, forests and sky. Ogwa had his first major exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1996 and has had exhibitions Germany, Argentina and Spain.



 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-miIGjEy8Fg&t=176s" target="_blank"
 >Continue watching this documentary about Ogwa here.</a
 >

Untitled

Basybuky Claudelino

Today, Ogwa’s effort to preserve and communicate Ishír Chamacoco heritage is continued by his multiple members of his family. His son Basybuky (Claudelino Balbuena, b. 1985) uses his artistic work to raise awareness of the lives of indigenous communities and to combat their marginalization and racism. He has worked in non-profit associations and for the Paraguayan Ministry of Culture to protect his heritage, which is increasingly predated. Like his father before him, Basybuky’s art reflects his voice, worldview, and environment. 



 The work featured depicts a shamanic scene during which two shamans in ritual attire holding maracas (top two figures), are in contact with La Gran Diosa, the water goddess Eshnuwerta who protects aquatic creatures and teaches humans to respect them. Should they fail to do so, the river will stop flowing, fish will resist capture and droughts and floods will befall the population. In each of the works, the primary message is one of sustainability, respect of nature and peaceful coexistence with living creatures.



 <a href="https://vimeo.com/220878924" target="_blank">
 Watch the documentary about Basybuky here.
 </a>

La Diosa de los Mitos y de los Nativos (The Goddess of the Myths and the Natives)

Feliciano Centurión

Audio commentary

Feliciano Centurion (1962-1996) was born in the missionary territory of Paraguay, an area marked by Guarani-Jesuit past. The artist made works using mass produced objects commonly found in markets, onto which he painted, embroidered, wove and applied handmade textiles such as Ñanduti. This is a constant symbol of Paraguayan identity, which Centurion embeds in images of trees, flowers, alongside other techniques such as embroidery or crochet. The spirituality of his work is often palpable with images of crucifixes or references to catholic imagery. References to mythology also prosper, marking a path towards more pagan beliefs rooted in both Western and Guaranì culture. In fact, spirituality materialises in his depiction of animals. Such works find resonance in the oeuvre of indigenous artists such as Ogwa, for whom wildlife is sacred. While resisting forms of marginalization as a gay man suffering from AIDS, Centurion’s work builds bridges between binary ideas such as nature and culture, high and low art, the intimate and the collective. 



 <a href="https://youtu.be/jLgFlefHStc" target="_blank">
 Watch a documentary about the life and work of Feliciano Centurion here.
 </a>

Noche estrellada (Starry Night)

Olga Blinder

Olga Blinder (1921-2008) is a figure of reference in Paraguayan XX century art. 
Together with Josefina Plá, Lilí del Mónico y José Laterza Parodi she founded the Arte Nuevo Group in 1954, which held the First Week of Paraguayan Modern Art: an exhibition installed in store windows on one of Asuncion’s main streets, featuring the work of over twenty artists most of whom were women. Arte Nuevo marked the desire to establish art as a meaningful form of expression for Paraguayan identity. For Blinder, and many in the group, understanding Guaraní identity was of paramount importance and she co-organised amongst the first exhibitions of Hispano-Guaraní art, notably for the 6th Bienal of São Paulo in 1961. Together with Lívio Abramo, she directed a printing workshop in Asuncion that formed generations of artists. Her woodblock prints, integral within her practice, represent archetypes of femininity such as mothers embracing their children and labourers, recording some of the prevalent aspects of Paraguayan life.

Tres generaciones (Three generations)

Claudia Casarino

In many ways, Claudia Casarino (1974) has forwarded Olga Blinder and Josefina Plá’s enquiry into the history of women in Paraguay, a country that survived the XX century thanks to those remaining after the bloody War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) that wiped out an estimate of 90% of the male population excluding children. Their practices engage with the labour of women and how that has been articulated and historicised. Like Blinder, Casarino often inserts small details in her works that homage ñandutí, which becomes the symbol of female hardship, consolidating a bridge between contemporary art and craft. Casarino also activates a critique of this fine textile, which was promoted as a symbol of Paraguay during the military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989) as a means to homogenise the Paraguayan and indigenous citizens under a unifying effigy. 

Corollas (I-V)

Lívio Abramo

Paraguay left a lasting mark on the life and practice of the Brazilian modernist printmaker Lívio Abramo (1903-1992). Starting in the mid-1950s he travelled from São Paulo to Asunción upon invitation of the Brazilian Cultural Mission. With this diplomatic initiative, Brazil sought to counter the economic prowess of Argentina by tightening relations with its so-called client states: Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay. Integral to the Brazilian Cultural Mission’s success was cultural exchange. In 1956 Abramo had his first solo show in Paraguay, and the following year he opened the Tallér de Grabado Julián la Herrería – named after Josefina Plá’s late husband, considered amongst the foremost ceramicists of in the country. After returning to São Paulo and founding the Estúdio Gravura with former pupil Maria Bonomi, Abramo moved permanently to Asunción where he coordinated the Visual and Plastic Arts Section of the Brazilian Cultural Mission from 1962 until his death. 

Josefina Plá

Printmaker, painter, potter, dramaturg, historian, poet, novelist, pedagogue, Josefina Plá (1903-1999) was a woman of many talents. Co-founder of the Arte Nuevo group, she proceeded to historicise it, offering texts and perspective on the newest artmaking in Paraguay, which she made sure was not a reiteration of European tendencies. Throughout her work, she sought to give visibility to the work of women and to be an advocate for their active role in shaping Paraguayan culture. In her writing about Arte Nuevo, which she characterized as being propelled by the virus of dissidence, Plá underlines the fundamental role of the women artists comprising the majority of the group. Though she was a native of the Canary Islands, and was weary of her foreigner’s gaze onto Paraguayan culture, her enthusiasm for learning about its harsh colonial history and indigenous heritage brought her to learn Guaraní and to adopt a literary style as well as an aesthetic that could express the innermost secrets and nuances of the country.

Motivos Payaguá (Payaguá motifs)

Osvaldo Pitoé

Artists in the region of El Chaco in occidental Paraguay have begun portraying their surroundings, their legends and history especially in ballpoint pen drawings – the same pens given to them by anthropologists and missionaries eager to learn about indigenous culture. El Chaco is a semi-arid region that comprises almost 60% of the territory of Paraguay, home to 10% of its population, and which is being rapidly de-forested. Osvaldo Pitoe (1957-) is originally from the Guaraní community Pedro Pablo Peña and currently lives in the Nivacle community of Cayin ô Clim (both near Boquerón). The subject matter of Pitoe’s drawings ranges from the flourishing flora and fauna of the territory, as well as quotidian images of collective gatherings and labour. We may be cognisant of the destruction of the environment witnessed in these areas, as well as the social and political hardships experienced by indigenous communities who live on the margins of the system. Yet, artists such as Pitoe, do not consider themselves as victims of the colonial process. Instead, their works bring forth processes of transformation, of community building, of co-existence with the natural environment, expressing the creative and productive will of their makers.


 If you have a few minutes,
 <a
 href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzASMayGB5E&feature=youtu.be"
 target="_blank"
 >
 see this documentary about Osvaldo Pitoe and others here.
 </a>

Angélica Klassen

Within indigenous communities, the realm of the aesthetic – materialised in utilitarian disciplines such as weaving and pottery – was traditionally a female prerogative. Since the 1990s, many men have started selling drawings and paintings alongside their main occupations. Over the past decade a new generation including women has turned to art as an instrument to voice their vision and narrate their historical experiences, both past and current. Angélika Klassen (1968-) was born in Yiclôcat, Boquerón, where she still lives and works. The images in her ballpoint pen drawings, echo the geometric motifs found in textiles or ceramics, perhaps marking a continuum in the creative agency expressed through both art and craft, which continually overlap and intersect.

Esteban Klassen

Esteban Klassen (1969-), who is Angélica’s sibling, was born in the Nivacle community Cayin ô Clim and currently lives in Yiclôcat. Alongside to his peers, Klassen expresses Nivacle cosmology and mythology, which frequently hinge on the relationships between people and different communities as well as between humans and animals or plants. Such images reveal a conception of the world that is rooted in the respect of and coexistence with nature – a balance that continues to be jeopardised by the livestock and farming industries. Armadillos, such as the one depicted in Klassen’s drawing, are sacred beings within Nivacle culture. Paraguay is the county with the most existing species in the whole continent, which are gradually becoming endangered.


 Klassen explained that his works oftentimes reference ancient songs: “They had songs of the ôjôclos (thunderbirds) and the yi’yôôj (jaguar). In that time there were powerful tôiyjes (shamans). My father knew these songs, but under the missionaries’ influence, he did not want to sing them anymore.”



 <a
 href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzASMayGB5E&feature=youtu.be"
 target="_blank"
 >
 Esteban Klassen is also featured in this documentary
 </a>

Floriberta Fermin

Floriberta Fermin Avalos (1988-) was born in Campo Alegre-Chaco, and is part of a Nivacle community. Her drawings are distinguished by a background textural pattern, which similarly to Angélica Klassen, recalls the fibre of textiles. In the work presented here, wild pigs are gathered under a big-bellied bottle tree (Ceiba chodatii), a species of particular significance for Nivacle communities. With its ample foliage, the bottle tree provides shade for animals in the forests. Its trunk, frequently riddled with cavities, is known for hosting beehives. Its wood used to be used for canoes and for the containers of fermented drinks, as well as ritual masks.


Today, the territory of El Chaco has been radically altered. The destruction of forests has jeopardised the subsistence practices that indigenous communities depended on. Industrialization has caused the expulsion of communities from their lands, and a relentless processes of sedentarization, motivated by the need for low-wage labour in factories and farms.



 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLt_K5OakRc" target="_blank">
 ee a documentary about the now derelict tannin factory in Puerto Casado by anthropologist Valentina Bonifacio.
 </a>

With works by artists including Olga Blinder, Josefina Plá, Ogwa, Feliciano Centurión, Floriberta Fermin Avalos, Claudia Casarino, Livío Abramo, this exhibition experiments with the digital medium bringing together disparate practices made across nearly 70 years. The selection sheds light on artmaking in Paraguay, testing the connections and clashes between the featured artworks.

Ñandutí - the quintessential Paraguayan lace – provides the organising metaphor of the exhibition which, as its Guaraní name foregrounds (it means "spider web"), is an example of mestizaje. In the exhibition, ñandutí provides a model for understanding how the social fabric reflected in the artists' work entwines with the history of colonisation. In fact, the origin of this lace is widely contested. While it closely resembles lace made in the renaissance in the Canary Islands, it is hard to find indisputable proof of missionaries from that area living in Paraguay and teaching it to indigenous women. It's reticular shape, visualises the possibility of rhizomatic connections, challenging the hypothesis of a fixed point of origin. Ñandutí is made by making an embroidery and unmaking the cloth supporting it.

The works featured employ woodblock printing, embroidery, drawing, lacemaking, which blur the division of art from craft. Each piece helps us rethink the history of modernism by dismantling, or unmaking, western categories to make space for what has been systematically excluded. The works displayed show how indigenous art informed modern art production from the 1950s, and, conversely, how indigenous artistic practice has transformed since the 1990s in response to western ideas of Art. The question is ripe about what relationship exists between Modernity and an Indigenous Art, grounded in naturalism, sustainability and which pushes against marginalization.

Ñandutí: Indigenous and Modern Artworks of Paraguay

Curated by Sofia Gotti