In collaboration with recognized agents of the current Mixtec culture, I prepared a certificate (such as those requested by UNESCO) to claim the restitution of a looted post-classical Mixtec tripod.
The certificate was written in Mixtec and not in any of the languages admitted in these processes in order to make visible the contradiction between international good intentions to solve the trafficking problem and the reality. Rich countries and their cultural and tourism industries continue profiting meanwhile the world’s heritage distribution is less equitable every day.
The explorations around this vessel and the possibilities of thinking about disclosure and restitution from art, have led me to carry out another series of actions and artistic products, among which I can mention: Oaxaca's history books hollowed out according to the shape of the emptiness of the vessel, 3D reproductions and gold leaf shells, anaglyphic photographs of landscapes from Mixteca Alta visible with lenses within the shape of the ceremonial glyphs decorating the mentioned ceramic piece, and its fictional registration card in the Mexican Monuments Registry of Archaeological and Historical Zones, and many others.
Noreña, Aurora. Tepalcates. The pertinence of the past. El Rizo Robado, 2021
http://www.elrizorobado.com/textos/2021_14_abr/2021_14_norena_tepalcates.html
