Cristian Inostroza

Huemul Performance

During the exhibition opening there was a performative reading by Cristian Inostroza taking place on a box filled with soil.

Gabriela Mistral, one of the two Chilean Nobel laureates in literature, wrote an essay in 1925 for the conservative newspaper El Mercurio entitled “Menos cóndor, más huemul” (“Less condor, more huemul”). This is one of the Chilean poetess’s most political texts, in which she reflects on the dual symbology of the animals present in the national coat of arms as expressive symbols of the patriotic spirit. Mistral makes a symbolic and comparative analysis of the Chilean social order and the characteristic behavior of these two animals, starting from a criticism of the almost non-existent use of the image of the deer in comparison with the abuse of the famous condor in within schools and official speeches.

Cristian Inostroza (b. La Granja borough, Santiago, 1984) is a multimedia visual artist. His work is born alongside the local social movements of the last fifteen years and from critical thinking about the official Chilean history, using artistic practice as a political tool. He has exhibited his works in the main spaces of the country and in multiple international exhibitions, focusing his research on the cultural manifestations of those who inhabit the peripheries of the cities of Chile, in its popular and indigenous traits.