“One of the fist things I ever did in my life was to eat dirt” – R. Arenas, from a memoir of a Cuban dissident
Museum of Edible Earth as a part of Ritualistic Technology during the 13th Havana Biennial
Museum of Edible Earth was a part of the project Ritualistic Technology, curated by Marilyn Volkman (US/NL) and Adrián Curbelo Díaz (CU), that took place in Havana in April – May 2019 in Noda Estudio during the 13th Havana Biennial. From the description of Ritualistic Technology:
What is technology if not a search for results through ritualistic action? Have we already approached a point at which natural, spiritual and technological processes have become indistinguishable from one another? If so, where exactly does our faith, or mistrust in technology lie?
Museum of Edible Earth as a part of Ritualistic Technology during the 13th Havana Biennial
The exhibition and public programme invited participants to engage with technology through action over apparatus, experience over device. Artists were asked to collapse the distance between knowledge and its practical application to uncover systems that tap deep into the human need to manage ourselves and our surroundings.
Both nations and international artists took part in the exhibition: Cristian Noda (CU), Masha Ru (RU/NL), Dan Paz (US), Albert Ortiz (CU), Sam Kellogg (US), David Cordero (US), Harold Ramirez Veliz (CU), Judit Ferreras (CU), Sergio Marrero (CU), Steven Cottingham (CA), Amalia Echemendía (CU), Silke Xenia Juul-Sørensen (DK/NL).
Cascarilla
The installation was enhanced with the local substance known as Cascarilla mostly used within the spiritual practice Santaria. As we learned in the suburbs of Havana, Cascarilla can be made out of white earth, which is also sometimes eaten for health, or can be put on a tongue or lips during the spiritual practice. This research was conducted with assistance of Raúl Meriño Recio.
'El museo de arte comestible, o comer tierra en La Habana', Vistarmagazine, by Adriana Marcelo Costa, 09-05-2019, Cuba (Spanish) >>
