“Plant Memory”

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"In his book 'Plant Memory,' the writer Umberto Eco discusses the birth of a type of memory, which he named 'vegetable.' In Eco's words: '...although the parchment was made with animal skin, the papyrus was plant-origin and, with the arrival of paper (from the twelfth century), books are produced with linen rags, hemp, and cloth; finally, the etymology of both biblos and liber refers to the bark of the tree.' Before the invention of printing, plant memory or books were roll-shaped. They slowly transformed into the objects we know today.

Regardless of its form, the book enabled the personalization of writing by containing a personal perspective of a memory fragment, or even of a collective memory. The act of reading then became a dialogue with someone and their body, though they are not physically present in front of us, with an individual perspective that leads us to try to understand a thought, an intention.

The exhibition 'Memoria Vegetal,' inspired by Eco’s particular look at the history of books and bibliophilia, brings together works in various formats and media that use the book as a support, or which are based on the experience of reading a particular text. The works placed in the exhibition space not only display new thoughts and interpretations of those books or readings on which they are supported, but they also become body and emotional catalysts.

 

Bernardo Ortiz

Carlos Alfonso

Camila Rodriguez Triana

César González

Leyla Cárdenas

Liliana Sánchez

Liliana Porter

Luis Roldán

Luz Lizarazo

Rosemberg Sandoval