Agave

Installation – Performance – Publication

Below : Agave (2023).

Variable dimensions, woven henequen fiber, bamboo stalks, 20 varieties of aromatic plants. LED lights, video.

With this project — and without metaphorical intent — we aim to weave together the fragmented knowledges of agaves. We recall that before the rise of petroleum-derived fibers, agaves were a kind of fibrous gold, used to produce rope during the Industrial Revolution and World War I — long before the agave became a globalized plant, taken from the hands of the weavers of Meso-Abya Yala.

Agave, the tree of wonders — of sacred pulque, of soft yet resilient fiber, thriving in dry, sun-soaked soil.

In 2023, we launched this project as a conjuration against the epistemicides and ecocides of agaves. We took part in the El Aleph festival at the invitation of curator Tania Aedo, the Cátedra de Arte y Tecnología Max Aub, and the Cátedra de Danza Gloria Contreras.

An extraordinary group of people contributed to this process. Over ten days, we engaged in research and experimentation across the dance hall, the botanical gardens of UNAM and Chapultepec, the pulquerías of Mexico City, and the agave-based cuisine of a ranch in Hidalgo. We were joined by Dr. Mariana Vallejo, whose research focuses on spaces of interaction between humans and their environments that sustain high levels of biodiversity — with the plant world as a primary indicator — and by Dr. Abisai García, curator of the agave collection at the UNAM Botanical Garden and one of the world’s leading agave specialists.

We remember the wars against henequen and the enslavement of Yucatec Maya people in the haciendas where rope was produced. We acknowledge the global passion for tequila and mezcal, and the resulting loss of genetic biodiversity in agaves. Producing these drinks requires the logic of monoculture: preventing the plants from flowering, and from coexisting with other plants, microorganisms, bats, and pollinators.

Scientific collaboration: UNAM Botanical Garden, Dr Abisai Josue García Mendoza, Dr Mariana Vallejo Ramos
Music: Aura Arreola.
Performance: Melissa Aguilar, Tania Aedo, Aura Arreola, Uryan Lózano, Mónica Malinaly Puente, Maria Herrador, Erick Ricardo Jáuregui Sánchez, Teresa Núñez-Fortoul, Maria Sánchez Martinez, Sofía Megumi Juárez Patatuchi, Daniel Herrera.
Production: Festival el Aleph-Unam Cátedra Max Aub & Cátedra Gloria Contreras.
Producer: Finella Halligan. General assistant: Melissa Aguilar. In 2024, Camille Olympie joined the project as a video post-producer, and motion designer.

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