This week I attended Patricia Cadavid's presentation on the work that she does as an immigrant, artist, and researcher. I gravitated towards her presentation because as I was raised by immigrant parents, I would notice their perspective differed from the way I lived. Hence, through Cadavid's perspective, she was able to express the effects of colonialism through her artwork.
Her work is focused on the ancestral past of the Andes of South America through a "decolonial perspective." Two of the pieces she presented were the Khipu and the Yupana Balzarotti. Through the two pieces, she was able to restore the memories and the works of the Incas and previous Andean societies that were present in South America.
A Khipu that the Incas and Andean societies used, https://ancientamerindia.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/khipus-the-central-andes-writing-system/
The Khipu was an important tool to the Incas and Andean societies in South America as it was a transmission device. Hence, they were able to send out information to each other through this which can be portrayed similarly how we use our cellphones to share information to each other. Something that I found interesting is that the name in Quechua language means knot and I wondered how it worked since to me it looked like knotted pieces of colorful thread. Cadavid explained how the knots encoded a numerical or encrypted value that expressed facts, events, and memories.
Now, as the development of paper and pencils, and electronic devices I wondered how Cadavid was able to still use the Khipu herself but apply some modern technology to it. Through the end of this video, Cadavid shares a performance of how the electronic Khipu works. This reminded me of the robotics and art topic we had because as technology advances so does the art. For example, Cadavid was able to take an artwork piece that belonged to the ancestors but apply the sounds to it so that it can develop. Just like the knots encoded a script, the knots in the electric Khipu allowed for the sound to activate in real time.
A performance of the Electronic Khipu, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma6deb_JWyM
The Yupana caught my attention because it was explained as a "tangible calculator". This reminded me of the topic we had on arts and mathematics. This allowed them to store information as they were not able to write so it allowed for the administration of the empire to have an important role. Both topics of math and robotics got my attention because it allowed me to see a different perspective to art that I had never payed attention. I wanted to attend this presentation because as I grew up with immigrant parents, they showed me some of the techniques and products they would use. They were able to alter some items that could be useful to what they need today. Patricia Cadavid did the same with the Khipu and I found it empowering as she was able to show were perspective of decolonization. Hence, I would suggest for someone to look at how the past can still be reflected through the arts which is what Cadavid showed in a form of math and technology. This motivated me to try to include something about my ancestors and how the art flourished and developed as technology advances.
An example of a Yupana, https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/yupana-chimú-inca-culture/PQHs_kR2-Kvp5Q
Citations:
1. Google. (n.d.).Yupana - Chimú - Inca culture (?) - google arts & culture. Google. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/yupana-chim%C3%BA-inca-culture/PQHs_kR2-Kvp5Q
2. Inca mathematics. Maths History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Inca_mathematics/
3. Patricia Cadavid: Electronic_khipu_ - youtube. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma6deb_JWyM
4. Khipu – the Central Andes Writing System. Tempo Ameríndio. (2014, March 14). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://ancientamerindia.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/khipus-the-central-andes-writing-system/
5. Incan khipu and Yupana. KASS. (2020, July 1). Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://kartsci.org/kocomu/computer-history/incan-khipu/
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