Reminiscencia

Confined to his home during the Covid lockdown of 2020, artist Malicho Vaca Valenzuela sat down in front of his computer and began collecting memories from the residents of Santiago. His goal was to tell the story of his neighbourhood, a vibrant area in the heart of the Chilean capital; his social media request for testimonies and personal memories about public spaces received numerous responses, and at the same time his grandparents started to share their own memories with him, their stories intertwining with the others. In this country “where there are immense blue skies in which one can read but where one doesn’t know what is hidden in the ground,” the director digs into the earth: a simple click on a digital map and he uncovers mysterious loves and repressed revolutions, so many fragments of an intimate and collective memory. Audience members are invited to quit chasing time and listen to the voices within them, to cling to what may still remain of a memory.

Reminiscencia is part of Sharjah Art Foundation’s Perform Sharjah programme. There is a second performance on 3 November.