Technical data

Date:              14^th April, 2006

Title:               “The Carpet”

Artist:             Jorge Restrepo

Singing:        Lester Mendoza, baritone

Guitar:          

Curator:        Carlos Lanza

Participants:   Claudia Herrán

Karla Valle

Jenny Vasquez

Carlos Lanza

Lester Rodriguez

Adriana Restrepo

Luis Bayando

Amarillys Moreno

Dana Hincapié

Steve Box

Julio Torres

Alejandra Mejía

Michael Allen

Carlos Hernández

Julio Contreras

Christian Cruz Ortiz

Namig Herrero

David Soto

Alan Nuñez

Category:     ephemeral art/ public art/ collective art

Location:      On the street outside La Merced church, beside the Valle Park, behind the Museum of the Honduran man. This carpet was prepared for the exit of the Dolorosa Virgin.

Dimension:  62 m2

Entities:         Museum of the Honduran Man and Municipality of the Central                    District.

Materials:      Sawdust colored with mineral dyes – hosepipe to water during the making, wooden planks, cardboard molds, plastic cups to mix the colors.

Description

A carpet was made in public, as part of the traditional elements of the Good Friday Procession, in the center of Tegucigalpa. The work included a sound installation where religious classical music was played during the process of creating the carpet. The Honduran tenor Lester Mendoza sang a solo when the Virgin was passing on the carpet. 14 people participated as volunteers in the creation of the Carpet, including artists and fine arts students. Documentation included a video and photography.

The ephemeral carpets have been made around the world in different cultures, with various elements: petals, sand, sawdust…, in some Central American Countries, the carpets of the Holy Week processions were made by each family living on the roads where the procession was passing through. In cities like Tegucigalpa this function has concentrated almost totally in the Municipality. The designs are naïf, with rich colors.

Objective

First of all with this work, I looked to represent the relationship that the artist should have with the surroundings. As an artist I interpret the local reality, and search for communication strategies, of representation.

With this work I also looked to generate a new option for Honduras, and it is the generation of spaces for the artist to make carpets and to generate a pole of cultural and economic development.

The work gathers the colors of the sky and the clergy, showing in the mosaic how the church can get close to its people.

The texts and pictures on this page can be copied partially or totally by any user for academic or educational purposes, or for personal use as long as they do not have a commercial objective. It would be appreciated if citations and copies of text can be sent to the artist giving details of where and when this material has been used. The artist can provide copies of some pictures in high resolution by request.