Religious garments and uniforms may spark inspiration for certain fashion moods and trends, but the world of visual arts tends to find creative stimuli in a far broader range of issues than mere aesthetics.
Chilean video and photo artist Magdalena Correa, for example, is very interested in the profound traditions and cultural significance behind certain garments, but also has a passion for exploring the richly diverse and complex geographical and human spaces in which these garments exist. To this purpose, she often investigates human life in extreme territories that are difficult to access.
"I am interested in exploring territories that are in a situation of isolation, precariousness, and oblivion," Correa states on her website.
In her work Correa contemplates indeed uncharted territories that exist parallel to our mundane daily routines, places that are largely ignored and neglected by most of us.
In previous projects Correa visited the deserts of Gobi in China and Mongolia and the Atacama Desert in the North of Chile; she carried out missions in the Chilean village Villa Las Estrellas, located in Antarctica, and in the highest gold mine in the world, situated at 5,600 metres above sea level in the District of Ananea, Peru, and investigated the wealth and ostentation of the Kuwaiti society.
In 2017, for her project "Suiti", Correa moved to Alsunga, in the western part of Latvia. Here she explored Suiti culture and society, recognised in 2009 by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage on the verge of extinction.
The Suiti are a small Catholic community trying to maintain a fragile harmony and living in isolation in a fundamentally Lutheran part of the country. Their existence is founded upon strict customs and rituals that have been meticulously preserved over time. Yet, affected by World War II and Soviet occupation, the community significantly dwindled over the decades.
Residing in the village, Correa created a collection of photographs and videos chronicling her life within this reclusive community. During her stay, the artist bore witness to the self-imposed isolation of the Suiti people, whose adherence to religious beliefs and rites has sustained their identity over the centuries.
Following in the footsteps of her earlier works, the artist became an integral part of the village and created a narrative around them, moving from their traditional costumes to then study their rituals, dialect, folk songs (they have over 52 thousand recorded ones) and drone singing performed only by the Suiti women.
Through her photographs of the spaces where the Suiti live, Correa attempted to make a comparison between architecture and interior design and the passing of time.
The yellowed wallpaper, the paintings at times hanging haphazardly from the walls and the aged and weathered interior design objects hint at dereliction and abandonment. Black and white framed photographs look faded and discolored, and the sunlight through the windows is filtered through a layer of dust. The forlorn appearance of some of these interior spaces, rather than a fascination with a sort of derelict beauty, hints at the people who left and at the erosion of the community.
Yet the rich costumes on which Correa's camera often lingers, seem to tell another story, and point at traditions continuing. Suiti women were initially required to wear a special uniform, with wide skirts of bright red, green and blue, to better distinguish Catholics from Protestants. These skirts have become an important element of their identity.
Acting as a documentarist and an anthropologist, Correa focuses on the details of the Suiti women's costumes and accessories; she captures the delicate interplay of light and shadow in the folds of the dark red skirts and the skilled craftsmanship behind the intricate embroidered patterns woven into the garments.
In a video entitled "Cerimonia" accompanied by drone singing performed by Suiti women, Correa approached the silent and intimate religious and spiritual ritual of women dressing in their traditional ceremonial costume comprising a white petticoat, a red dress, thick woolen socks, a cropped jacket and a shawl secured with a large fibula.
The brief video chronicling the preservation of a cultural practice becomes therefore a testament to the resilience of the Suiti in the face of geographic and societal isolation.
Correa's "Suiti" project will be on display at Photo London (11 - 14 May), exhibited by the Spanish contemporary art gallery Isolina Arbulu, alongside the work of Colombian photographer Adriana Duque and Mexican/Spanish photographer Angélica Arbulu.
Image credits for this post
All images in this post by and copyright Magdalena Correa.
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