MUNTREF Contemporary Art Centre: Rakel Gomez Vazquez

An exhibition by Basque artist Rakel Gómez Vázquez will open on March 26th at the Hotel de Inmigrantes (Immigrants’ Hotel), which houses the MUNTREF Contemporary Art Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artist will be in Buenos Aires in March to launch the exhibition ´Piedra rima con hiedra, mármol rima con árbol´ (literally ´Stone rhymes with ivy, marble rhymes with tree´), based on the ´AgurBerriz´ project. This exhibition, which runs until April 30th, is the result of an agreement between the Etxepare Basque Institute and Bitamine Faktoria, an association created to raise the international profile of Basque artists.

EAS-EZE para la Internacionalización del Arte Contemporáneo Vasco is a programme by Bitamine Faktoria that supports exhibitions, master classes and interiews with creators in Buenos Aires. This year, in addition to the exhibition, Gómez will give a master class at Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. The discussion on the link between the environmental crisis and the validity of symbols, exposing a portrait of neocolonialism and the problem of preserving identity in times of cultural extractivism, will be on the 23rd, at 5:00 p.m.

‘Piedra rima con hiedra, mármol rima con árbol’ is a visual essay developed out of the ´AgurBerriz´ project. The title comes from a story by Argentinean writer Abelardo Castillo. The project reflects the loss of the palm tree from the spread of the disease known as ‘higuera roja’ or ´red fig´. The palm tree is considered a colonial symbol, a clear indicator of the history of our time in the landscape. The Basque hymn ´Agur Jauna´ lies at the core of the concept development.

The artista and researcher Rakel Gómez Vázquez explores landscape as a cultural construction, representing the political and social issues of memory and identity.