If a hundred flowers bloom

If a Hundred Flowers Bloom

group show, 2018

“In the midst of the current context of capitalist globalization and the political crisis in our country, the exhibition If a Hundred Flowers Bloom explores—through graphic resources, archival material, and effigies drawn from popular imagery—the ethical urgency of rethinking the communal and identity-based bonds that shape Peruvian society. By turning to images and meanings from our recent past, restructured and reinterpreted through different techniques and materials, the exhibition as a whole rests on a desire for a form of collectivity more egalitarian than the one promoted by the neoliberal hegemonic system. In doing so, it invites us to reflect on the social antagonisms that structure our national community, while also posing the need to search for alternatives that might enable the transformation of the current political order.”
—Renzo Rivas

A group exhibition collaboratively organized by Almendra Otta, Andrea García-Roque, Víctor César Ybazeta, and myself at El Cubil, an itinerant occupation project coordinated by Juan Carlos Salazar Sánchez. The photographic documentation was made by Héctor Delgado.
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Reflecting on the communal ideals that shaped my adolescent understanding of collectivity, I found a material and symbolic connection—rooted in becoming—between the communist sickle and the lunar scepter from the Japanese anime Sailor Moon. I reproduced both tools in an oversized format, echoing the aesthetic of traditional school torches.The Sailor Moon sculpture is paired with the phrase “friends forever” translated into Korean, referencing both the rise of K-pop fandom in the city and my sister’s recent devotion to Korean dramas.
The sculpture of the communist sickle is accompanied by a double-exposure photograph depicting a group of children and vegetal debris inside a trash bag. On the adjacent wall, the phrase “don’t go, mom” appears in Korean, alluding to the imposed longing for maternal care that many leftist men tend to “naturalize” within their political organizations.

“Ideales de comunidad” -Cetro lunar
Installation of an ephemeral sculpture made of reed and paper, with wall inscription.
2.00x120m (approx)
2018

“Ideales de comunidad” - Oz
Installation of an ephemeral sculpture made of reed and paper, with wall inscription.
350 x 150 cm (approx)
2018

“Encender el ideal”
Video documentation of torchs-burning action.
3’17”
2018

The documentation of the burning torch-sculptures is available here.