Castellano
El proyecto de empanadas esotéricas surge de una meditación sobre la intersección entre arte, poder, gusto y consumo. Historias de sincretismo cultural están inscritas en la empanada, originaria de la Península Ibérica y avenida a Latinoamérica a través de la colonización. Cada país americano tiene variaciones locales con frutas, verduras y raíces nativas. En Paraguay una receta se prepara con mandioca. Es un bocado barato y ubicuo en las calles, los copetines y las cantinas universitarias: un terere rupa.
La escena del arte local está dividida, estratificada y mercantilizada en gran parte al igual que la gastronomía - así como existe el susodicho arte intelectual, hay comida gourmet, lo que hace que la "comida rápida" y barata sea análoga a la cultura popular. Kitsch y artesanías caen bajo la segunda categoría. El mundo de vídeos de bricolage en Instragram, el arte textil, los abalorios y las obras a base de porcelana fría pertenecen a ella también. Las manualidades asociadas con domesticidad femenina son por lo general relegadas a la cultura vulgar, con la excepción del trabajo de artistas masculinos que "revolucionan" una artesanía doméstica y la elevan a arte. De esta manera, el arte, como la comida, refleja la hegemonía cultural, las ideologías y los intereses de clases sociales poderosas que las instrumentalizan para mantener el status quo (patriarcal, clasista, eurocéntrico y racista).
Es notable que, en la vernácula local, "empanada" significa vagina o vulva, señalando así el cuerpo femenino como un objeto para ser consumido.
La escena del arte local está dividida, estratificada y mercantilizada en gran parte al igual que la gastronomía - así como existe el susodicho arte intelectual, hay comida gourmet, lo que hace que la "comida rápida" y barata sea análoga a la cultura popular. Kitsch y artesanías caen bajo la segunda categoría. El mundo de vídeos de bricolage en Instragram, el arte textil, los abalorios y las obras a base de porcelana fría pertenecen a ella también. Las manualidades asociadas con domesticidad femenina son por lo general relegadas a la cultura vulgar, con la excepción del trabajo de artistas masculinos que "revolucionan" una artesanía doméstica y la elevan a arte. De esta manera, el arte, como la comida, refleja la hegemonía cultural, las ideologías y los intereses de clases sociales poderosas que las instrumentalizan para mantener el status quo (patriarcal, clasista, eurocéntrico y racista).
Es notable que, en la vernácula local, "empanada" significa vagina o vulva, señalando así el cuerpo femenino como un objeto para ser consumido.
English
This project arises out of a meditation on the intersection between art, power, taste and consumption. The vehicle for representation is the empanada, a popular and traditional food staple that is found all over Latin America, brought over with colonization from the Iberian Peninsula, where it originated.
Histories of syncretism are inscribed in the empanada; every country has local variations utilizing native fruits, vegetables and roots. In Paraguay, the local style of empanada is prepared with manioc root. Here, it is synonymous with working class culture and is as ubiquitous as it is cheap. It is terere rupa, from the Guaraní “a bed for tereré,” as it is meant to settle the stomach before one drinks cold mate tea.
The local art scene is divided, stratified, and commodified in much the same way gastronomy is; just as there is so-called highbrow art, there is expensive, gourmet food, making cheap “fast-food” analogous to popular/ist lowbrow culture. Kitsch and arts-and-crafts would fall under the second category. Anything that might be taught in an instagrammable DIY video would, too. Moreover, handicrafts associated with feminine domesticity are usually relegated to lowbrow culture, with the exception of the work of male
artists who “revolutionize” a domestic craft and turn it into highbrow, expensive art. Textile art, beading and cold porcelain-based works are prime examples of this. In this way, art, like food, reflects cultural hegemonic ideologies and the interests of powerful social classes that wield them to maintain status quo (patriarchal, classist, euro-centric and racist).
It is noteworthy that, in local vernacular, “empanada” is a slang term for vagina and vulva, thus signaling the female body as an object to be consumed.
Histories of syncretism are inscribed in the empanada; every country has local variations utilizing native fruits, vegetables and roots. In Paraguay, the local style of empanada is prepared with manioc root. Here, it is synonymous with working class culture and is as ubiquitous as it is cheap. It is terere rupa, from the Guaraní “a bed for tereré,” as it is meant to settle the stomach before one drinks cold mate tea.
The local art scene is divided, stratified, and commodified in much the same way gastronomy is; just as there is so-called highbrow art, there is expensive, gourmet food, making cheap “fast-food” analogous to popular/ist lowbrow culture. Kitsch and arts-and-crafts would fall under the second category. Anything that might be taught in an instagrammable DIY video would, too. Moreover, handicrafts associated with feminine domesticity are usually relegated to lowbrow culture, with the exception of the work of male
artists who “revolutionize” a domestic craft and turn it into highbrow, expensive art. Textile art, beading and cold porcelain-based works are prime examples of this. In this way, art, like food, reflects cultural hegemonic ideologies and the interests of powerful social classes that wield them to maintain status quo (patriarchal, classist, euro-centric and racist).
It is noteworthy that, in local vernacular, “empanada” is a slang term for vagina and vulva, thus signaling the female body as an object to be consumed.
