2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Inspired by indigenous pictorial documents, Mariana Castillo Deball has created a work consisting of numerous clay-fired panels that take up the contents of two Central American illuminated manuscripts from the 16th century in relief. In the Humboldt Forum, the installation "Codex Humboldt Fragment 1 / Codex Azoyú Reverso" will adorn one of the most striking rooms in the east wing, the so-called Schweizer-Saal, which displays, among other things, the mighty Cotzumalhuapa stelae from present-day Guatemala. The 320 ceramic panels of the artwork will almost completely cover the two-storey-high southern end of the hall.

The expansive art installation also includes furniture that invites visitors to sit and linger. They were also inspired by the pictorial models: "The surface is moulded from woven mats - petates - which are depicted as seating in various codices and are still used today. The benches cast from white concrete look like fossilised versions of fabrics and woven structures," says Mariana Castillo Deball, describing part of her installation. As part of this art project, the collaboration with local Mexican communities is also being strengthened, as the project also finds a counterpart in Mexico itself through the artist.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, emphasises: "With this artwork, we are continuing to pursue the approach of bringing contemporary art from the countries of origin into dialogue with our collections. Together with Collection Director Lars-Christian Koch and Curator Maria Gaida, I would like to thank Mariana Castillo Deball for bringing her perspective and creative energy to the Humboldt Forum. Our special thanks go to the Friends of the Ethnological Museum for their considerable financial support, which is proof of their extraordinary social commitment."

The realisation was made possible by many years of support and a generous donation from the Verein der Freunde des Ethnologischen Museums e.V.: "It is a project that makes the connection between us and our museum and Alexander von Humboldt's world view in the Humboldt Forum meaningful," emphasised Jochen Brüning, Chairman of the Board of the Circle of Friends.

The Humboldt Forum Foundation in the Berlin Palace is also actively supporting the project with the planning and realisation of a structural substructure for the artwork.

The codices "Codex Humboldt Fragment 1" and "Codex Azoyú 2 Reverso" are records of tax payments to the Aztec conquerors and rulers. Today they enable research into the tax system in a province that had surrendered to the Aztec Empire and are important documents for the study of the indigenous political economy on the eve of the Spanish conquest. Alexander von Humboldt acquired the original of the fragment "Codex Humboldt Fragment 1" during his visit to New Spain (1803-1804) and brought it to Berlin. Today it is in the collection of the Berlin State Library. Its counterpart, the "Codex Azoyú 2 Reverso", was rediscovered in Guerrero, Mexico, in 1940. The two documents were published in 2009 by the SPK and the Mexican Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS) in a bilingual facsimile edition as a single manuscript with an interpretation of the contents.

Images: Press photos

Mariana Castillo Deball

Mariana Castillo Deball was born in Mexico City in 1975. She lives and works in Berlin. Castillo Deball closely interweaves art and research. Her artistic works often focus on archaeological finds, which the artist analyses and presents in their cultural utilisation. Traces of the objects' use take centre stage, as do her own free associations with the history of the found or already archived objects. This process of deconstruction results in works in very different media, such as drawing, film, sculpture, installation and performance, with which Castillo Deball considerably expands the possibilities of artistic representation.

Castillo Deball has had solo exhibitions at the New Museum, New York, USA (2019), Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, USA (2018), Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico (2018), SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah Georgia, USA (2018), Galerie Wedding, Berlin, Germany (2017), San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, USA (2016), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Mexico (2015), Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany (2014), Musée Régional D'art Contemporain, Sérignan, France (2015); CCA, Glasgow, UK (2013); Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK (2013); Museo Experimentelles El Eco, Mexico City, Mexico (2011), and Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, USA (2010). Group exhibitions include Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy (2018), LACMA, Los Angeles, USA (2017), 32nd São Paolo Biennial, BRA (2016), Liverpool Biennial, UK (2016), 8th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany (2014), Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2013), and 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2011).