THE INSTALLATION The project began with the installa- tion Threaded Conversations , a fiber art installation built with ARTISTS in EXILE LATINA IMMIGRANTS’ STORIES THROUGH FLAMENCO by ANGELA ARTERITANO individual cotton fibers knotted into wooden dowels. Each thread was measured, cut and knotted while I had conversations with migrant women across the US. It started as a very simple task in my creative process, to have conversations
about tradition with women while cutting these threads. I wanted to begin building body memory, so I could later recall these experiences while activating the installation with performance. Little did I know that it would become this charged conceptual work about community and tradition. The design itself emerged from a deconstruction of the Manton de Manila , an embroidered silk shawl made traditionally by artisans in Spain, used as a dance element by flamenco dancers. Thousands of single knots create beautiful floral designs and the ends are always sur- rounded by fringe created from the same threads. I departed from the idea of “the clean slate” to create a curtain-like fiber installation derived from the concept of stripping this tradition- ally charged flamenco element of all its meaning. The same way a blank canvas is to a painting, this became an opportunity for us to reconnect to this traditional element from our unique perspectives. I was addition- ally inspired by Indigenous Wayuu
AFTER REACHING ALMOST FIFTEEN YEARS in exile and noticing the increasing number of fellow Venezuelan immigrants across the US and the world, I pondered the question of how to encapsu- late a displaced legacy. An emergent legacy. A rela- tionship to flamenco that is inclusive of our unique perspectives as Latinas in exile. Markme is the resulting multidisciplinary project. Within a con- temporary flamenco setting, Markme aims to bring attention to the rediscovery of the Latina identity through a network of performative experiences.
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
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