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Single channel HD video and sound
Claudia Martínez Garay's work investigates objects' journeys between their origin and destination, suggesting that the information accrued in these transitory spaces holds value and power.
After encountering a ceramic vase at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin depicting a Moche prisoner moments before he was sacrificed, Claudia Martínez Garay began speculating how art can underline implications of cultural appropriation and contribute to creating narratives that challenge, and complicate, the discourse of domination and cultural hegemony. Death and sacrificial rituals were an important part of Moche society and cultures, and the archetype of the prisoner – through its diverse transmutations – is explored in ÑUQA KAUSAKUSAQ QHEPAYKITAPAS (I WILL OUTLIVE YOU). The video is a form of personal and shared storytelling, with fact and fiction intersecting and blurring together. The timeline in the video shifts from the prisoner’s state of mind prior to his death to his childhood, to its transfiguration into a digital being, to its knowing incarceration as an artwork on display.
Claudia Martínez Garay’s work investigates the journey that objects undertake from the moment of their origin, through the progression of contexts and destinations that they inhabit, suggesting that the information accrued in these transitory spaces holds value and power. Martínez Garay looks to the pre-Columbian cultures of South America, with a focus on representing and interpreting the visual language of Incan ceremonial traditions.
Claudia Martínez Garay studied Printmaking at the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Peru (PE) from 2001 to 2007 and at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (NL) from 2016 to 2017. She is now participating in the 12th Shanghai Bienniale (CN).
Last update: October 15th, 2019.