subsuelo: seismic skins
total art festival, 2024
Subsuelo: Seismic skins
~ Almost a party, an encounter of bodies and materialitiesSubsuelo was an extended happening that unfolded as an arts festival. It came to life in its second edition through an extensive collaborative process of research and creation. Under the title Seismic Skins, participating artists were invited to reimagine the telluric layers of the earth in relation to the skins and identities that shape our subjectivity as a species. This fictional proposal led some artists to twist Andean messianic patriarchal narratives to reimagine the life, land, labor, and time we share.
Aiming to collectivize the construction of this experience and to institute a space that brings us together, we organized a collaborative creative writing session with participants from the first edition of Subsuelo to develop the narrative structure that guided this new iteration. The exercise involved creating three exquisite corpses, each inspired by a specific prompt: imagining foundational myths, reflecting on a seismic event, and incorporating one of the three most erotic experiences previously shared by the group. To conclude the session, the authors of each erotic experience —Brisa, Alda, and Salo— were commissioned to rewrite the texts and to cut through time and history by inventing three mythologies about the past, present, and future. These chronotopies challenged social conditionings related to race, gender, and class, enabling a space of infrastructural leakage. From these narratives, other participants developed new artworks, and together with the text authors, we co-created a docufiction short film that linked the chronotopies with the Andean foundational myth of Inkarri —the sleeping Inca revolutionary destined to return from death to bring justice to the world.
Likewise, the telluric imagery of the Peruvian Andes and the mythical figure of Inkarri inevitably evoked the revolutionary mestizo leader of the 18th-century independence movement, Túpac Amaru. Since then, Túpac Amaru has been considered a popular idol of justice, yet his image remains entangled with representations of terror and death, echoing the deep colonial contradictions that continue to shape Peruvian society.
Subsuelo: Seismic Skins was, therefore, a durational materialization exercise that brought together artists and cultural practitioners from different trajectories, prioritizing communities of racialized and sexual & gender diversities within the local context. Through a varied public program including concerts, performances, screenings, an entrepreneurship fair, exhibitions, a fashion show, and a kiki ball, the seismic imaginaries of the Peruvian territory were evoked to fictionalize multiple futures and address the complexities behind messianic narratives of salvation from dissident political standpoints.
Subsuelo was collectively organized by Chris Luza and Jaime Prada, with the support of Proyectoamil and the invaluable effort, kindness, and vitality of all the participants and workers involved in the process.
The participants of this expirience were: Alda Bernaola, Almendra Otta, Almudena Jeri, Alza el Vuelo Ediciones, Anacrónica, Área, Arturo Dávila, Astrotrans, Aure Velasquez, Azules Somos, Berto Prieto, Brisa Fernandez, Canino Latino, Canto Villano, Carita de Vago, Carlycore, Chris Luza, Claudix Vanessix, Colectivo Itsutsu, Creas Films, Cumbia Trans, DJ Kassandra, Estado de Limbo, Eoz, Farrah, Fiorella Terrazas, Fran Florian, Germa Machuca, Glossy Makeup, Green Gemini, Holy Drako, House of Prince, Isaac Ernesto, Isis Prince, Jaime Prada, Javi Vargas, Jinete sin Cabeza, José Carlos Flores, Kabuki Pistolas, Karolinativa, Kiana Romero, La Chusma, Le Rare, Linda BB, Lituya Studio, Los Números de Ale, Luana Guerra, María Cristina Salgado, Maje Mauri, Mariel con Botas, Marita Rodríguez, Mica Lundfar, Ministerio Transexual, Naif Rolande, Perverso Ediciones, Petaka, Piero Tatts, Raúl Rustoy, Renata Aranibar, Rafsp Peruano, Rubiane Maia, ROVI, Sailor Planta, Saló Tomoe, Sandra aka. Polisha, Serena Morena, Sergio Zevallos, Shañu, Tarot Consciente, Tsunami Press, Tosco Perfumes, Vichos, Victoria Ríos, Walter Humala, Wincy Oyarce, Zoe G. Serrano.
CHRIS LUZA - PERÚ. - 2025