Volcanos are related to both the creation and destruction of land – volcanic eruptions have created landmasses such as new islands, as well as being potent devastators, often changing the course of the planet. As a way of understanding the world beyond geopolitics and in terms of the connections that we share through volcanic cartographies, the exhibition (Re)Born from Volcanos traces the cultural, political, and spiritual practices connected with the recurring volcanic cycles of birth, existence, destruction, and recovery. The project is dedicated to the knowledges emerging from the largest range of volcanos known as the Ring of Fire, which links distant territories, lives, and memories between Abya Yala / the Americas and Asia: from the volcano of Villarrica / Rukapillan (Chile), through the volcanos of Ipala (Guatemala), Matlalcueitl (Mexico), Tambora and Krakatoa (Indonesia), Rabaul (Papua New Guinea), to Putauaki (Aetora / New Zealand), among many others. The artists in the exhibition have created languages that interrelate to the volcanic contexts, reminding us that nature is not a stable background, but that it is constantly changing through its own agency, and is therefore very much alive. What can we learn from the unstable soil and discontinuous formations in which we live, and from the communitarian experiences and epistemes of the extended planetary family (re)born from volcanos?

Exhibition curated by Paz Guevara and Cristian Vargas Paillahueque, in conversation with Bettina Korintenberg and Gabriel Rossell Santillán, and in the context of the one-year programme Agua Quemada (Burnt Water) at ifa Gallery Stuttgart.

Artists:
Seba Calfuqueo
Santos Chávez
Neyen Pailamilla
Antonio Paucar
Esvin Alarcón Lam
Mena Guerrero
Gabriel Rossell Santillán
Maurilio Sánchez Flores
José Luis Romero Chino
Emmanuel Tepal Calvario
Luis Ortiz
Saúl Kak & Charles Fairbanks
Raven Chacon
Citra Sasmita
Tita Salina & Irwan Ahmett
Lisa Hilli
Monai de Paula Antunes & Silvia Noronha