Mollusca: Poesía de Caracolas
Casa Central Universidad de Chile.
Sala Museo Gabriela Mistral, Santiago, Chile, 2024.
Museographic and curatorial commision.
Mollusca: poesía de caracolas
Casa Central Universidad de Chile. Sala Museo Gabriela Mistral.
Universidad de Chile inaugurates an art exhibition that revisits the collection of Pablo Neruda, displaying thousands of seashells belonging to his collection. As part of a joint effort between the Andrés Bello Central Archive and the Vice Rectory of Extension and Communications of the University of Chile (VEXCOM), this new exhibition is designed under the concept and design of visual artist Elizabeth Burmann Littin.
Regarding this, the national sculptor “emphasizes the importance of directing our gaze towards these creatures, as they are the second largest group within the animal kingdom and catalysts for the various climate effects that have occurred throughout eras due to the impact of human and industrial activity on the marine ecosystem.” In this sense, the exhibition becomes an opportunity t reflect on the collection of natural species, and for the public to appreciate this set from a perspective that values biodiversity and the importance of mollusks.
In the same vein, visual artist Elizabeth Burmann pointed out at the inauguration event that in the current context of human detachment from nature, it is of “vital importance to immerse our gaze into the ocean and pay attention to the creatures that inhabited the thousands of empty seashells in this collection,” as - although they may seem distant - “these slimy creatures are surprisingly familiar to our own origin and the various forms of life on the planet. Those of us present here carry in our genetics an oceanic origin,” because “the plasma of our blood shares the chemistry and salinity levels of ancient seas. In other words, we carry an ocean within.”
Through this extraordinary collection, the exhibition allows visitors to travel through the seven seas with species ranging from the most common to those that stand out due to the rarity of their species, genres, classes, sizes, and colors. Through various artistic, visual, and sound elements, the exhibition invites the public to reflect on the collection of biological species, alongside the aesthetic and ecological dimensions that connect us to oceanic diversity.
