When he set foot in Brazil in 2011, on his first trip outside of Central America, Guatemalan artist Edgar Calel was only 24 years old. He landed in Belo Horizonte (MG) for a 20-day artistic residency – a period during which he was able to get to know and be fascinated by the Inhotim Institute – and then went to São Paulo, where he would participate in a group exhibition at the [unclear - possibly a cultural event name]. Galeria VermelhoDue to deadlines and unforeseen circumstances, he ended up without space to exhibit, but decided to go to the opening anyway, dressed performatively in a t-shirt that read: "I am here because of the absence of a work of art."
Almost 15 years later – during which he exhibited at several major institutions around the world, including the São Paulo Biennial in 2023 – Calel returns to Inhotim under much more favorable conditions. And not with just one work to show, but with a solo exhibition occupying the entirety of the spacious Lago Gallery, within the Minas Gerais institute located in Brumadinho, near Belo Horizonte. Featuring 15 large-scale installation works, 12 of which were created specifically for the show, the artist spent almost two months – along with his family – living in Brumadinho to mount “Ru Jub'ulik Achik' – Aromas of a Dream,” which opened this October.
Of indigenous origin, a member of the Kaqchiqel-Maya people and a resident of the small town of San Juan Comalapa, Calel recounts that after his first trip to Brazil – during which he began to understand more about the different cultures that compose it – he returned home with a great desire to go back to the country. And so he did: “As I returned, I discovered a very special connection between the knowledge of the cultures of indigenous peoples here in Brazil and Guatemala.” After visiting Guarani, quilombola, and other communities, the artist affirms that, for him, “the many borders that only exist in our heads, in the definitions and terms we use,” have disappeared.
Calel perceived the various cultural parallels – whether in food or spirituality – but also social and political ones – such as the inequalities that result in the popular struggle for land – that mark the two countries. “Here and there, the problems are the same. There is no great difference between the ways of life, of thinking, and also the modes of segregation that exist, including the reasons that created this great inequality.” And it is precisely from this perception, from the accumulated experiences of his travels, and from the desire to bring the two countries into dialogue, that the exhibition at Inhotim was conceived.
Perhaps for this reason, entering "Aromas of a Dream" transports the Brazilian visitor to a distinct cultural universe, on the one hand, but full of references to beings and elements that are quite familiar to us. Animals such as the jaguar (or) appear in the works. jaguar(In Spanish, a sacred being for both the Kaqchiqel-Maya and various Amerindian peoples of Brazil); objects such as colored candles used in rituals, straw mats, clay pots and drums; foods such as corn and tropical fruits; as well as landforms such as the fertile earth mountains, with a design so similar in the regions of Comalapa or Brumadinho. "Calel provides us with an immersive experience based on elements of nature, in a spatial design that is paced by the territory, by communion – mainly within its family nucleus – and by spirituality," summarizes Beatriz Lemos, who co-curated the exhibition with Lucas Menezes.
But while there are obvious similarities between Guatemala and Brazil – such as the earthen hills symbolized in “Aq'omanik Paruwi'Juyu' – Healing on the Mountains” – there are also notable cultural characteristics of a universe particular to the Guatemalans, more specifically to the Kaqchiqel people and the Calel family itself. It is this family, after all, that is represented in “Kej-chi'ch' – Metal Deer,” an installation composed of a red pickup truck occupied by clay sculptures symbolizing family members, dressed in traditional clothing full of colorful patterns.
It is the familiar environment of the Calel family that is referenced in a large room at the end of the visitor's itinerary. There, one finds a ceremonial space inspired by the one that existed in Edgar's grandmother's house – with objects such as masks, hats, embroidery, musical instruments, candles, and photos – as well as a workspace similar to the family workshops, in addition to a video of a performance – “Xi ni chajij – They covered me with ashes to protect me” – performed by Calel alongside his parents. For the Kaqchiqel-Maya, as Lemos explains, “this sacred place is in total symbiosis with the place of sustenance, work, rest, family communion, and conversation.”
A collective and long-lasting endeavor.
Dubbed by Inhotim as a "long-term exhibition," since it will be on display until 2027, Calel's show also took a long time to develop. Nothing more, in Lemos' words, than "an adequate and comfortable time for ideas, for comings and goings." After all, respect for the "time of things," as opposed to the usual speed imposed by Western societies, is one of the basic values of "Aromas of a Dream," as well as of the Kaqchiqel-maia and so many other Amerindian peoples.
And this seems clear from the very first work in the exhibition, still outside the gallery, entitled “Rajawal Ramaj – Master of Time” and consisting only of a grand gneiss rock found by Calel in the Brumadinho region (historically marked by mining and, recently, by the disastrous collapse of the Córrego do Feijão mine dam). A stone in which the artist perceived a resemblance to the shape of a turtle – a slow-moving, long-lived creature – and simply drew the animal's eyes, explicitly showing his vision.
Regarding the long and intense process of creating the exhibition, Menezes also states that “this is more than an exhibition; it is a project that communicates with a time that is not just the present. And it is based on unwavering, very firm, very grounded principles.” One of these principles, perhaps the most fundamental of them, is that of a “collective and communal doing,” resulting from the intense exchange between the Calel family and the Inhotim teams.
Following Edgar's initial visit to Brumadinho to see the gallery where he would exhibit and to calmly observe the mining region, the curators and other members of the institute's workshops traveled to Guatemala to explore Comalapa, its landscape, local culture, and the life of the Calel people. Life in a country where more than half the population is of indigenous origin, mostly of Mayan descent, as Lemos comments: “It was something very striking and beautiful to see. It showed that it's possible, in contemporary times, to experience this as a society. If only we could have had the opportunity to interact more with our original cultures.”
There, the Brazilians got a glimpse into the family's routine, described by Edgar as a succession of collective activities that include working in the fields, sharing and interpreting dreams, cooking, holding ceremonies, and producing art. “There are so many activities, it's almost like a Ministry of Culture and Sports,” he jokes, noting that two of his brothers are also physical education teachers. “But everything we do unfolds very naturally. You can't do anything without being in communication, without asking others if they are well, if they are unwell.” And even knowing that his work is increasingly in demand on the international art circuit, Calel also understands that “often, before art, it's necessary to solve other problems.”
The exhibition speaks of this dream we all share, this collective dream, in communion. But, above all, it speaks of an ancestral dream, of reclaiming dignity, protagonism, and autonomy for the original cultures, for the Kaqchiqel-maia culture.
Finally, the project's completion and the installation of "Aromas of a Dream" took place in Brumadinho, during the almost two months that Edgar, his parents – the first time his mother had traveled by plane – and three siblings spent in the city, all working alongside the Inhotim teams. For the artist, it wasn't simply a matter of transporting his works from Comalapa to the institute, or even selling works from his collection to them, as Menezes recounts: "He wanted to do it together, and for us, that's a fundamental principle of the project. To dream together, to create together, and to do it together." Thus, according to Calel, "what exists is something so beautiful and so important: recognizing that contemporary art is being made from the perspective of the people. This focus is fundamental, because it also concerns the memory of the people that we are transporting through the works."
The memory of peoples is also manifested, in the Kaqchiqel-Maya vision, in the memory of things, in a worldview that sees life in the elements of nature – including the two large stones that symbolize Edgar's grandparents in the work “Qatit Qa Mama' Wawe Oj k'owi Chawech – Grandmother, grandfather, we are here before you”. Stones or grandparents, therefore, that can traverse time, dimensions, or territories, according to Calel. “Through art, temporality can be extended a little further. And I believe it is very important to think about the things that manage to remain after we are gone. I speak about this because within me there is still – sometimes I hear – the sound of my grandmother's voice. And that is why I make offerings, so that she can live through many temporalities, many dimensions.”
When asked about the exhibition's title – “Aromas of a Dream” – Calel states that dreams are one of the many dimensions that exist to be experienced. “Thus, it makes sense to think that the aroma of a dream is also the aroma of life, which in the case of the exhibition translates into installations, objects, paintings, memories… into being invited, through works of art, to learn a little about Guatemala.” In fact, he reiterates, it's the memory of a Guatemala constructed in Brazil. “So it's almost like a hug of friendship, knowledge, and collaboration.”
Along the same lines, Lemos concludes: “The exhibition speaks of this dream we all share, this collective dream, in communion. But, above all, it speaks of an ancestral dream, of reclaiming dignity, protagonism, and autonomy for the original cultures, for the Kaqchiqel-maia culture.”
*The journalist traveled at the invitation of Instituto Inhotim
