With a pavilion that presents a multidisciplinary, multimedia and multisensory experience, Chile has captured the attention at the world's most important contemporary art festival: in the midst of the climate crisis, the Chilean exhibition Turba Tol Hol-Hol Tol aims to raise awareness and preserve peatlands, the wetland ecosystem that captures carbon from the atmosphere most effectively and yet remains one of the least studied. In addition, a Chilean wins the highest award of the competition: Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 2022 for Cecilia Vicuña!
What does it feel like to descend into the depths of a peat bog? The Chile Pavilion located in the 59th Venice Art Biennale's Arsenal, recreates a trip to the peat bogs of Patagonia, this type of acid wetlands -which extend over 30,000 square kilometers between the Chilean Patagonia and the Tierra del Fuego region-, in which organic matter has accumulated in the form of peat and which capture and store enormous amounts of carbon, becoming today, essential ecosystems for the fight against climate change.
Thus, Chile, through a multisensory installation, offers a 360º immersive experience where visitors are led to a circular platform surrounded by a translucent screen on which images of the descent into the bowels of a peat bog are projected: all around is live, damp moss, the smell of which is perceived even before entering the pavilion. A soundtrack makes the ground tremble while tribal chants, guttural noises and high-pitched screams fill the air, among other striking elements that capture the five senses of those present.
All this to make the audience understand how essential peatlands are for the planet and that we must conserve them to successfully mitigate the increase in CO2 emissions. Because as the organizers of the presentation explained: "peatlands absorb more carbon than forests, a capacity that makes these wetlands one of the most valuable ecosystems on the planet"; and yet they are one of the least known and researched, and are exposed to threats such as mining and fires.
Under the name "Turba Tol Hol-Hol Tol" -constructed from the word "Tol" (heart in Selk'nam, indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego) and "Hol-Hol" (peat bog)-, Chilean creators and researchers have planted in Venice this small sample of a true natural jewel of the end of the world.
Behind this exhibition is a multidisciplinary team made up of sound artist Ariel Bustamante, art historian Carla Macchiavello, filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor and architect Alfredo Thiermann, who are joined as co-authors of the project by ecologist Bárbara Saavedra, Selk'nam writer Hema'ny Molina and cultural producer and biodiversity expert Juan Pablo Vergara.
In addition to the core work team, it has the collaboration of other artists, scientists and foundations, including the initiative of Turberas de la Patagonia, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Chile, Hach Saye (Selk'nam indigenous cultural organization) and Ensayos (curatorial platform for ecological research), among others. Through work with activists and scientists, the aim is to weigh up the lack of knowledge about peatlands and expand knowledge about this ecosystem beyond the scientific sector.
During the seven months of the Venice Biennale, the Chile Pavilion will offer several activities, such as a symposium with experts in ecological preservation, the signing of an agreement to create global awareness on the subject and the presentation of a program for the conservation of peatlands around the world with the intention of permanence, on the platform of the exhibition: Turba Tol.
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement for a Chilean woman
The poet, visual artist, filmmaker and activist, Cecilia Vicuña, becomes in this 59th Venice Art Biennale, the first Chilean to win the prestigious Golden Lion for lifetime achievement, in one of the most important art events in the world.
Trained at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Chile, her work addresses various topics about the modern world and the urgencies and concerns that it demands: the ecological crisis, human rights and indigenous peoples. Author of 25 books of art and poetry, her written work has been translated into seven languages.
His works are part of collections of prestigious art galleries, museums and cultural spaces, national and international, such as the MOMA in New York; the Tate Modern in London; the Guggenheim in New York; the Frac Lorraine in France and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chile, among many others.
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