- The international French artist guides you through her exhibition at the Great Museum of the Mayan World.
Attracted by a series of digital photographs by the international artist ORLAN, which show her hybrid face with sculptures of our ancestors, students from the Yucatan Higher School of Arts (ESAY) toured with her the Mayan Self-hybridation exhibition, at the Great Museum of the Mayan World of Mérida (GMMMM).
In the temporary room of the venue, accompanied by the head of the Ministry of Culture and Arts (Sedeculta), Loreto Villanueva Trujillo, the creator explained that the project is a continuation of Self-hybridations Précolombiennes, from 1991; her welcome is given by her poem “Mundo Maya” and a series of 200 photos that make up her biography.
He pointed out that he does not use a particular technique, he works on bodies, religion, and tradition, which allows him to show his body modifications as the Mayans did. “Most of the civilization represents the male and I made them female,” she said.
Before the curator of the exhibition, Leïla Godet Voight explained that the main piece is a funeral mask in which she wore a purple wig.
Subsequently, about the work that refers to a dialogue with the work of Demián Flores titled De/construcción de una nación, also exhibited at the GMMMM, he said that it is distinguished by being bright, cheerful and warm, the colors represent the sun, corn and blood.
During a brief talk that he had with those present, he shared that if the artist does not feel free to express himself, he should dedicate himself to something else and urged “not to be indolent about the situations that are happening in the world, come out of the shadows, speak, read”.
In her message, the state official highlighted that since its inauguration last December the exhibition has received around 15,000 visitors and added “I want to thank ORLAN on behalf of Governor Mauricio Vila for his generosity in sharing his experience and for the students who have had this dialogue with a simple, kind and generous person”.
For Fernando Quintero Chan, from the Bachelor of Visual Arts, this talk encouraged future talents, “with this talk we had with her and the one she gave at my school, I have understood more about her work and it has inspired me to do mine in that style and without limiting myself. I do see myself doing my own work and exhibiting in very important places”.
Diana Méndez Sánchez, who is in the sixth semester of the Contemporary Dance Degree, said that ORLAN is very human. Listening to her explanations while observing her art nurtured her with tools and increased her creative and reflective capacity.
“What has caught my attention the most is the daring, the madness, the gestures both in the body and in the colors, the aesthetics, how to break with all the stereotypes or break with speeches, without offense, all from the reflection research”, he pointed out.
Mayan self-hybridations resulting from the coordination of the Sedeculta and the Cultural Center “La Cúpula”, will be in force until May 7, 2023, from Wednesday to Monday, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. There is also the installation by Lorena Ancona Cueva Flor/Loltun, The earth as a body, which with endemic elements such as clay, wood and henequen, focuses on reviving the heritage of the Mayas.
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