WE ARE OCEAN Honduras

Activities and events:

During a first part, interactive and interdisciplinary artistic-scientific workshops and interventions were organized in La Sabana with the local community of the “Desembocadura del Río Chamelecón” to discuss the local environmental issues, their causes and possible solutions and how traditional knowledge can be of support in a more sustainable, respectful and indigenous perspective driven way. The invited artists Adán Vallecillo (Honduras), Pável Aguilar (Honduras/ Switzerland), Sarina Scheidegger (Switzerland) and the curator Anne-Marie Melster came together in La Sabana from 16 to 24 August 2022 to hold workshops around several ocean protection topics scientifically accompanied by Diana Vásquez and Luis Guardiola from the RARE Foundation. During the workshops, the invited artists created collective art works with the children, which will be presented below.

On 26 August 2022 the project finalised in an open fishbowl discussion at the Spanish Cultural Center in Tegucigalpa together with the artists, the marine biologist Diana Vásquez and the curator Anne-Marie Melster as well as a representative by the local small scale fishery association. Together with the audience, they discussed the role of the arts in mediating between ocean science and society, but also their position in looking for local solutions and supporting the communities affected by climate change. Images and videos of the project were also screened.

The project will continue in 2023 with further workshops led by César Manzanarez in Tegucigalpa.

Artistic Outcome:

The artistic outcomes were site specific installations, performances, sculptures, and films:

Pável AGUILAR (Tegucigalpa 1989, works and lives in Basel): ‘Conversando con el viento/ talking with the wind’

The artist created a collective performance with the students, combining the elaboration of ancestral musical instruments and contemporary music theory through sound art. Together with approximately 15 participants they made the musical instrument called “Churinga”. This instrument has been widely used by the ancestral cultures of the global south as a means of communication, protection and religious rites in harmony with nature. The participants, under the guidance of artist Pavel Aguilar learned how to make this musical instrument with their own hands and played in a collective performance in front of the sea. This project reflected on the urgent importance of the harmony of ancestral knowledge and science in order to achieve a sustainable ecological balance. Each of the sounds of the participants’ instruments was recorded with a digital audio system and a soundscape will be composed.

Adán VALLECILLO (Danlí, Honduras 1977, Works and lives in Tegucigalpa): ‘Estación Gastronómica Marítima: Marine Gastronomic Station (EGM)’

EGM is a design and self-construction project that engaged in the activation of an outdoor kitchen of 6 x 6 meters, in the community of La Sabana, Puerto Cortés. The artist created this kitchen together with the participants of the workshop. Traditionally, cooking is a place of communion and dialogue in rural and coastal areas of Honduras. The artist will create an architectural module based on local aesthetics and that also allows to create a series of activities of knowledge exchange around the local gastronomy, the consequences and challenges facing global warming and the global consumerist voracity of the natural resources of the ocean. The idea is to activate this module with a program of activities and workshops for a week, however the structure will be installed there on a long-term basis for the general use by the community of La Sabana.

SARINA SCHEIDEGGER (Bern 1985, works and lives in Basel): ‘Collaborating Waters’

Together with the students, the artist enacted her performance ‘Collaborating Waters’, enabling the participants to give the waters surrounding them many-faceted voices and sounds. The performance is based on a collection of song texts written by the artist addressing and connecting various subjects in relation to water. The songs finding voice in a choir is the attempt to celebrate the empowerment of a polyphonic togetherness.

Participating collaborators:

• Anne-Marie Melster (Artport_making waves, curator)
• Adán Vallecillo (artist)
• César Manzanarez (artist)
• Pável Aguilar (artist)
• Sarina Scheidegger (artist)
• Diana Vasquez (RARE Foundation, Honduras, marine biologist)