Textile Woman, Performance
14 March, 2022Textile Woman, Yohanna M Roa
3 May, 2022Xaltil. CCUTL.
La cocina – The Kitchen, Xaltil. CCUTL.
Yohanna M Roa. Performance Installation
This work is based on an Ecofeminist foundation, where the objective is the return of governance, both of what is consumed, as well as the way it is named and used in the construction of community. Ecofeminism is a current of thought that involves both a theory and a practice, which explains and at the same time proposes solutions to transform the system of domination and violence, which has focused on the exploitation of nature as a resource.
It is a recreation of a kitchen, where prints, photographs, and textile interventions are displayed, referring to archaeological pieces from a museum in Mexico City and another in NYC, such as pots and general utensils.
During the performance-workshop, the participants engaged in a process of recognizing the mutual daily needs of food; through exchange and the urgency of recognizing each other even in differences, the possibility of constructing community opens up. And therefore, the possibility of the return of governance over the relationship with nature.
This work was developed in two parts: the textile interventions in the Roa´s studio in New York, and the second part, the performance-workshop activation, during an artistic residency with Calpulli Tecalco AC, in the southern part of the city, in San Pedro Actopan, Milpa Alta. Due to the need to feed her children and herself, Mrs. Amalia created a recipe using herbs and edible plants, known in Mexico as quelites. Some of these herbs are of pre-Hispanic use, such as quintonil, while others were brought by the Spanish, such as diente de león (dandelion). Mrs. Amalia taught Mrs. Carmen Rodriguez the recipe. She wanted to name it “Pizza Nahuatlaca,” but Carmen responded that they couldn’t call it that because it was neither pizza nor Nahuatlaca. So, she named it Huexopantalxcali, the large tortilla of the green time, because most of the herbs used in the recipe grow in the rainy season.
During the artistic residency, Roa had the opportunity to go with Mrs. Carmen and her daughter Angélica, who are close friends, to collect plants in the fields around the mountains and then in the garden-garden at Mrs. Carmen’s home. Doña Carmen taught the artist how to prepare the recipe. A video was made to document their journey and how they prepared and shared that day. At the end of the video, Mrs. Carmen mentions that the first human beings tasted the things of the world to determine if they were good or not, and began to create recipes. In this way, she invites others to cultivate and create their own recipes.
In the Museum
During the performance-workshop-activation, the goal was for the participants to re-create the recipe, using the herbs that grow in urban gardens, cooking together, and sharing collectively.