Atlas
Impregnated by the method used to reconstruct the identity of a collective based on territorial aspects, a
common characteristic of the nineteen century french pittoresque atlas, we decided to confront the curatorship inspired by Claude Gay, French naturalist who in 1830 was hired by Minister Diego Portales and the Chilean government, to do the first survey of the resources of this new, post colonial republic and of its territorial, social and biological reach. How large was Chile? What could be found on it and how did its inhabitants participate within the territory?
Gay set upon this endeavour by summoning an assortment of specialists to participate in the construction
of the first Chilean Atlas of flora, fauna, cartography, history and illustrations.
Our curatorship is made up in a similar way, brought together by technology due to the fact that one half lives in Chile, the other in Spain and the work itself is developed in Italy. We invited seven architects, each with their architectural language and viewpoint, to narrate and illustrate our common territory, to participate in the creation of this new Atlas, to define our Cancha, to contemplate, describe and write about the actual state of Chilean ground, and to develop unpublished material for la Biennale. Their work was complemented by a series of documentaries created by the photographer and filmmaker Cristóbal Palma.
All this is our Cancha, which on the one hand represents colonization, division and trade, and on the other is part of an all, that includes animals, trees and people, as seen by the Mapuche, the people of the earth, that inhabit the south of Chile.
