Synchrony 2013-2021, Lorena Mal. Installation View. 

Tsinamekuta - Premier
Marcela Armas

Virtual Premier

September 14

7:30 PM (EST)

Join us for the virtual presentation of Tsinamekuta, by Marcela Armas

The presentation will take place on Zoom and requires previous registration

TSINAMEKUTA begins as a work process that takes as its starting point the discovery of a mineral called Pyrrhotite inside a mine that for the past 150 years has been producing copper, gold, and silver. Pyrrhotite is a ferrous sulfide that is susceptible to magnetic induction under certain processes. 

In 2017, 600 meters deep down into the mine, a Pyrrhotite fragment was borrowed from one of the ceremonial centers for the Wixárika community, known in their native language as Tsinamekuta, The House of Rain. The Wixaritari have pilgrimage through these lands for more than 10,000 years, forming part of a biocultural net, whose preservation is based on the sacredness of the Earth and all its inhabitants. Armas' research and collaboration with the Wixaritari has resulted in the construction of instruments to explore the possibilities of reading, interpreting, and rewriting the original memory of the rock. 

This project raises an ethical consideration about the mineral world as the foundation of life, and a space for reflection on the meaning of intention in the human contact with nature.

Tsinamekuta has received the support of the National System of Art Creators, FONCA.