The Earth dyes is an exhibition dedicated to artisanal dyeing knowledge, produced entirely by the Argentine Handicraft Market of the National Secretariat of Culture. It is made up of more than one hundred textiles made by eighty-seven artisans from twenty-two provinces. Although its focus is dyeing knowledge, the craftsmanship gathered in the exhibition presents a notable technical rigor in textile knowledge in general. The works are organized into seven chromatic groups that bring together the seventy-two different dyes achieved from botanical and animal species.
The curator, textile designer Fernando Martumanian, welcomes the exhibition with a text that warns that the exhibition is not only a unique experience but an ode to the natural dyes of Argentina. Next to it, the visitor will find a white wool ruana by Patricia Bonín from Villa Domínguez, Entre Ríos, one of whose streets has a map of the country applied to it, made with a patchwork of woven fragments with all the colors that the artisan achieves from pigments. Also sharing the room is a set of rugs that were created at the time of the Inti Raymi; they make up a chakana. Its creator is the artisan Celeste Valero from Huacalera, Jujuy, whose work was recently in Berlin and New York with the Textiles Semilla collective. This section is completed by an installation of hand-woven sheep wool yarns, with the characteristic thickness of hand-made work, dyed with a very northeastern tree such as the ñandubay. These threads that look like the evening sky of the Corrientes plateau were made by Maria del Carmen Barrientos from Curuzucuateña, a craft that she learned from her grandmother.
Slipper, 2024. Chaguar. Cowhide leather. Natural dyes: Guayacán. Technique: Basketry. Erlinda Acevedo, Lilia Lucas, Malena Acevedo, Ercilia Acevedo, Karina Acevedo, Micaela Acevedo, Evelyn Frías, Leila Lescano, Irene Acevedo and María Quiroga. Wichí Town. Santa Victoria Este, Salta.
The rest of the exhibition is spread out in the rooms with sobriety and joy, which makes it worth going to discover it. Creativity and quality take you through powerful traditional pieces or interesting innovations woven with sheep wool, cotton, silk, chaguar and llama. Matras, ponchos, shawls, blankets, dolls, bags and even shoes are displayed, always with information about the origin, technique and cultural belonging of the artisan.
The exhibition program proposes fairs and spinning demonstrations, with some closing activities such as a guided tour by the curator and a festival of activities that promise to delve into the narratives of the works, the experiences of the artisans and the history of dyeing knowledge in our land.
Admission is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be available until April 13 from Wednesday to Sunday, from 2 to 8 pm, in rooms 9 and 10, ground floor of the Palacio Libertad, Sarmiento 151, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
Exhibitors
Adriana Cassini | Ana Aguirre | Analía Susana Fort | Andrea Laura Swoboda | Berta Ponce | Bety Gorosito | Blanca Gómez | Candelaria Aaset | Celeste Valero | Celina Verónica Ampuero | Clara Amalia Quiroga | Cristina Ayala | Ercilia Acevedo | Erick Sami Alberto Rojas | Erlinda Acevedo | Etelvina Núñez | Evelyn Frías | Fabio Párraga | Felisa Gaspar | Fiorina Andrea Gatti | Flora Lucía Llampa | Gabriela Aguilar | Gisella Natalia Aguirre | Graciela Mabel Gaspar | Graciela Salvatierra | Hilda Sandoval | Irene Acevedo | Juana Josefina Ledesma | Julia Ibáñez | Karina Acevedo | Laura María Sosa Sbrez | Leila Lescano | Lilia Lucas | Lilia Mónica Almeida | Liliana Soraire | Lourdes Chicco Ruiz | Lucinda Campos | Lucrecia Cruz | Mabel Figueroa | Malena Acevedo | Manuela Centenario | Marcela Molinari | María Alejandra Asensio | María Benita Morales | María del Carmen Barrientos | María del Carmen Troncoso | Mariana Laura Marin | María Márquez | María Quiroga | María Rosa Gauna | María Teresa Crespi | Mariana Quinto | Mariángeles Funes | Maribel Zárate | Mariela Bruno | Marta Estela Troncoso | Marta Goyheneix | Micaela Acevedo | Miriam Nievas | Myrian Roxana Mercado | Mónica Torres | Nélida Peracca | Nidia Verónica Díaz | Nilda Rosa Lazarte | Noemí Angélica Pastrana | Norma Albornoz | Paola Vera | Paola Viviana Castagnoli | Patricia Bonin | Patricia del Carmen Lamas | Petronila González | Purísima Legue | Ramona Cuellar | Rocío Belén Ampuero | Rodrigo Cuevas | Rosalina Pérez | Sandra Pérez | Silvia Audeliana Aparicio | Silvia Pérez | Silvina Maguicha | Soledad Armella | Sonia Lacoste | Teresita Elizabeth Mamani Alanoca | Veda Palavecino | Virginia Aldira Aparicio | Viviana Beatriz Bigoni | Yanina Cepeda.
* Special for Hilario.