CURATED NEWS DECEMBER 2024
I N S I G H T
Trace the dance rituals of the Pirá Paraná River in the Colombian Amazon region of Vaupés. A dance dedicated to nature, fertility, and abundance documented by Sergio Bartelsman.
Ground in Textiles Semillas, a living project of weaving and cultural bridging, through exchanges in weaving practice and its meanings, with 300 weavers in Northern Argentina.
Immerse yourself in the work of Romanian artist Ana Lupaș and her conceptual and sensuous processual sculptures, meditations on historical connections to women’s work in rural life; and potent starting point for critical commemoration.
Amazon life photographed by Sergio Bartelsman and Ana Lupaș' Humid Installation in Cluj, 1966.
C O N N E C T
Consider the ethics of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy from author and biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Listen to Stories of Migration, a twelve-part lecture series amplifying the voices of migrants, exploring why we move across borders and the personal forces that shape these decisions.
Deepen understandings on materials, making practices and the concepts behind them in Unwoven, an editorial project by Textile Exchange.
Robin Wall Kimmerer's essay Serviceberry, and the making traditions and deep generational knowledge explored in Unwoven.
N O U R I S H
Discover Kii Rɨkɨ Bare Hako, an interactive regeneration proposal sharing sacred ancestral feminine knowledge and wisdom that honour the fertility and abundance of the Amazons., through origin chants, cartography, 3D animation and self-indigenous research.
Explore Public Work’s sprawling sources of inspiration, from archival astronomy plates to botanical illustrations from time gone by.
Experience the first major retrospective in Europe of Colombian artist Olga de Amaral, a key figure of the Fiber Art movement at the Fondation Cartier, Paris.
The work of Olga de Amaral.
L O C A L N E W S
Chokhor ~
On October 24th, Chokhor took place as it does each year around that time. Following the gathering of oats, all the Ritoma nomads return to the winter grassland, and the whole area is blessed to protect the animals over the winter. Men representing the village clans borrow a complete set of the Kangyur, 108 volumes of the Buddha’s teachings, from the monastery, tie two or three to their backs and circle the winter pastures on horse. The circumambulation complete, they return to the monastery and deliver the volumes, all set to begin winter life.
Norlha’s Anniversary ~
On November 13th, Norlha celebrated its 17th anniversary. It was a joyful moment, where we were reminded that some of our workers were children when we opened Norlha in 2007. It was a day off for the workers, with a feast of momos and hot pot, and a draw where every Norlha employee left with a Norlha gift.
Torgya ~
The Torgya, or Ritual Cake Throwing Ceremony, took place in Ritoma on November 29th. This is a ritual that happens at the close of each year all over the Tibetan Plateau for the purpose of cleansing the air of any malevolent forces bent on creating obstacles during the coming year. The ritual cake, a four feet high triangular shaped butter sculpture representing colored flames topped with a skull, is a bomb directed at harmful spirits. The master of the ceremony announces that all harmful forces are to be sent back to where they came from. He states that the motivation is one of compassion, the aim of the ritual is not to destroy the spirit itself but the ignorance within it. Straw is placed around the torkya, and the ceremony culminates with the lighting of the fire.
