works
El Rey Blanco (ongoing)
hearth
zines
A cinq cents métres de l’effondrement
Arriver au port et attendre que la ville s’éveille
Tout ce qui pend d’un fil
Pianos en Arabia
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“El Rey Blanco” (The White King) is an ongoing historical, research and documentary project, started in 2022 and developed during the PhMuseum Criticae 23/24 Contemporary documentary photography program. The work brings a discussion over colonialilsm and extractivism, it takes as its starting point two legends dating from the Spanish colonial era on the South American continent: In one side, the legend of the Sierra de la Plata (a mountain made of pure silver) and the myth of the White King (a powerful and rich king with a domaine full of treasures). Both of them were located in the same area, in the hearth of the contient, somewhere sailing up the waters of the Rio de la Plata, “The Silver River”.
By following the paths of the first Spanish settlers across the waters, and exploring the present-day situation of Bolivia's Cerro de Potosi (perhaps the largest silver mine in history, and believed to be the origin of the Sierra de la Plata legend), the project invites us to go in search of the mythical White King, whose whereabouts have remained a mystery.
In a spirit of "magic realism", combining direct phoography, plastic interventions, mises-en-escene and historical documents, a parallelism is proposed between the two legends and the current situation of the South American lithium triangle, where lies the 65% of the world's reserves of this precious white metal, also known as "white gold", and which is driving major foreign interests to sink their fangs once again into the continent's throat.
“Open Veins” duo show at PhMuseum Lab (05 Dec 2024 - 23 Jan 2025) along with Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer, curated by Camilla Marrese and Giuseppe Oliverio. Credits : Rosa Lacavalla - PhMuseum
“The Lithium Triangle worth a Potosi”
5 pure silver coins - 6.67 g each.
Paris, France, 2024 - 1/1
Inspired by one of the coins minted with silver from the Cerro de Potosi in the same city by the Spanish during the occupation of South America, I have recreated 5 coins totally made in silver that keeps in the face the original minted model, with the year of the presumed discovery of the hill by the aboriginal Diego Huallpa in 1545. In the mint, as if echoing that they are the two faces of the same coin, I reproduce the silhouette of the 5 most important Lithium deposits in Latin America, adding their name and the phrase “Vale un Potosi” which in Hispanic voice refers to something that contains an extraordinary wealth. In low relief, each coin is crossed by lines, which when put together, form a triangle, making reference to the fact that, The Lithium Triangle is worth a Potosi.
“Paisaje N°1” - 20 x 25 cm
Lithium-Silver Wet Plate reproduction.
2024
This reproduction, of an intervened territory, is made with the wet collodion technique, in which silver salts and lithium salts (the two main metals of the project) were used to reproduce the image.
Showcased on:
FISHEYE
PhMuseum
Little Stories x Diversion Studio
PhMuseum Lab
Der_Greif x Rencontres d’Arles - Screening “Face to Face” - Rencontres d’Arles, 2024