Owners of the Crossroad - Aesthetics of Exú and Pomba Gira in Rio de la Plata

León Ferrari, Infierno, 2000, cage and clay sculptures, 27”x15.7”x15.7”. Photo Dany Barreto

August 6 – 30, 2009

 By Maria Carolina Baulo

 From August 6 - 30, 2009 the visual arts exhibition “Owners of the Crossroad -Aesthetics of Exú and Pomba Gira in the Rio de la Plata” ran at the Rojas Cultural Centre of Buenos Aires, showing the aesthetics of these African cults. Juan Batalla, Argentine, visual artist, co-director of the Arte Brujo Editorial and specialist in African cults, is the curator of the exhibition, focusing on the combination of disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, religion and art. “Owners of the Crossroad” highlights the interaction of literature –first presented as a book of images and texts by authors from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay- and an art exhibition which started in Uruguay at the Blanes Museum of Montevideo in April 2009, followed by the Rojas Cultural Centre in August and finally ending in Sao Paolo, Brazil in the near future.

 These sorts of images are always related to marginality and they assume a pagan perspective covering the main subjects condemned by the Christian church: these cults free people from all their fears and vindicate the joy of life without expecting any compensation in another life for the sacrifices made on Earth. The gods worshiped are popular divinities, accessible for the faithful, close to people’s feelings and needs; this might be one of the reasons why the influence of these cults is expanding so fast. The African cults of Exú and Pomba Gira are liberating cults; however, the followers believe each invocation to the gods has consequences.

 Exú, the man, and Pomba Gira, the woman are both main spiritual entities in African cults, two sides of the same coin. No attempt to disqualify them could stop the cults from getting stronger in the suburbs of the most important cities of Argentina and Uruguay. These are spirits related to transgression and, because of the phenomenon of syncretism, the gods took the place of devils when the cult arrived in America with the African slaves. And the cult transformed in such way, that it generated a parallel cult: the Kimbanda. From Africa, it traveled to Cuba, Haiti, Bahia (Brazil) and from there to the rest of the Americas and further expanded to Brazil; finally from Porto Alegre to Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Once in Uruguay and Argentina, because of those cultural influences and contamination, the cult gained a new meaning and several artistic expressions became related to the rituals: performances, dance, music, food, among others.

 The main importance of this exhibition at the Rojas Cultural Centre, represented by artists from Argentina and Uruguay, lay in the role played by Exú: one of the most important divinities of the African-Latin pantheon, a multifaced and contradictory god, identified as a spirit and as an orixá or divinity at the same time. The idea was to clearly express the enormous complexity and richness found in arts derived from a contemporary theology, which gets stronger every day. The exhibition was based on different perspectives aimed at showing the beauty within the ritual art. Installations and videos were the protagonists and many of the participating artists expressed using this media: Dany Barreto, Argentine, visual artist and also co-director of the Arte Brujo Editorial, recreated an Umbanda temple, and centered the attention on a typical symbol of Exú: the dog. The photographs by the Argentine photographer Guillermo Srodek Hart introduced us into the Kimbanda altars in Montevideo and Buenos Aires; his large-format images allowed the spectator to capture the magnitude of those interiors. The Argentine Leon Ferrari presented Exú´s icons as demons, acting as the Christian saints’ opponents. The exhibition included other artists’ works: Guillermo Zabaleta, Diego Perrotta, Gustavo Tabares, Melina Scumburdis, Marcelo Bordese, Nora Correas, Ángela López Ruiz, Nico Sara, Anabel Vanoni and Margaret Whyte.

 The presence of a culture which fought strongly to open its path in Rio de la Plata can no longer be ignored. It is a must for Occidental culture to recognize diversity and its importance in rituality, and also in the field of art. This itinerant exhibition could be a first step in approaching the mystery of the unknown.