The collaborative artistic creation “Borda-Lands: las cartas son el tecido”, by Colectivo Ayllu

Abstract

In this article, we aim to discuss the aesthetic and political inflections performed in the collaborative creation titled “Bordar-Lands: las Cartas son el tejido,” by Colectivo Ayllu and exhibited at the 35th Bienal de São Paulo. In it, one can notice the presence of collaborative writing whose visuality is constructed throughout the performance and gestures of the most varied bodies inscribed in the fabric panel. Following the movement indicated by the gestures in the materiality of the piece, the analysis focuses on the associative relationships suggested from the spiral located in the center of the composition and the mention of “clandestine historiography” present in another fragment, and articulates references related to the field of semiotics, performance, decolonial studies, and religions of African origin. Hence, we seek to understand how certain cultural symbols related to Indigenous and Afro-diasporic peoples are resignified, which in turn constructs a position against colonialism.