Virginia Lupu
4 sept, 2020 Centrul de Interes, Cluj-Napoca
The challenge is posed through the title “YES! I AM” and aims for a reflection on sincerity with oneself, as well as a direct stance towards external issues that generate both acceptance and conflict. The open space left by “I AM” is intended as a space for negotiating the idea of right/good as something evolving and formed in real-time. The works of artists at the Center of Interest are responses to current conditions, as the issues arise from situational complexities. The four artists live within crisis, seeking current, uncomfortable, detailed meanings, without giving in to superficial interpretations or reflexive triggers. We invite you to identify the facts that either blend into or stand apart from the circumstances, especially as we all are going through a social, identity, and cultural shock that leaves us more isolated, atomized, and fractured in our relationships with the present and our connection to our past.
Malibdomantie
In cultura noastra, ritualul cu cositor poate avea si intentii divinatorii, de a prevesti viitorul, dar este folosit si pentru healing: elimina frica sau trauma daca it porti timp de o luna aproape de corp si apoi it rupi in 4 si il arunci la o intersectie.
Primul meu contact cu cositorul a fost prin strabunica mea care nu se identifica ca vrajitoare si nu practica ritualul cu cositor pentru divinatie, ci apela la acest gen de tratament in momentul in care oamenii din satul natal erau marcati de tot felul de evenimente traumatizante, unele de natura inexplicabila.
Eu, de exemplu, am fost muscata de un sarpe pe la spate cand aveam 5-6 ani si socul nu parea sa treaca prin nicio metoda pe care o aplica mama mea sceptica din fire. Nu mai vroiam sa ma asez pe vasul de WC pentru ca aveam senzatia ca o sa sara un sarpe din apa WC ului si o sa ma muste din nou de fund si vedeam sarpele peste tot in intuneric. Am simtit o imbunatatire doar atunci cand strabunica mi-a turnat cositor si imi pot aduce aminte chiar si acum forma lui unduita pe care imaginatia o asemana cu un sarpe.
Ritualul clasic este distorsionat transformand spatiul expozitional intr-o intersectie unde toti cei prezenti isi pot lasa fricile aici sau le pot lua cu ei. Formele diverse si inconcrete pot fi usor interpretate de imaginatia fiecarui privitor, dar acest conglomerat ritualic are propria energie. Nimic nu garanteaza eliminarea completa a fricii.
In our culture, the ritual with tin can also have divinatory intentions, to foresee the future, but it is also used for healing: it eliminates fear or trauma if you wear it close to your body for a month, and then break it into four parts and throw it at a crossroads.
My first encounter with tin was through my great-grandmother, who did not identify as a witch and did not use the tin ritual for divination; rather, she turned to this type of treatment when people in her hometown were affected by various traumatic events, some of an inexplicable nature.
For example, I was bitten by a snake on my back when I was 5-6 years old, and the shock didn’t seem to subside despite any methods my naturally skeptical mother tried. I was afraid to sit on the toilet because I felt a snake would jump out of the water and bite me again, and I saw the snake everywhere in the dark. I only felt an improvement when my great-grandmother poured tin for me, and I can still remember its wavy shape, which my imagination associated with a snake.
The traditional ritual is distorted, transforming the exhibition space into an intersection where everyone present can leave their fears here or take them with them. The diverse and abstract shapes can be easily interpreted by each viewer’s imagination, yet this ritual conglomerate has its own energy. Nothing guarantees the complete removal of fear.
