Cosmic expedition, 2017

Residency at NIROX FOUNDATION, South Africa.

The main objective is to take a trip back in time, since the origin of humankind to the origin of the universe. Travelling from the Sterkfontein caves, where the first human archiological remains were found, to the SKA SA installations, the biggest radiotelescope in the world. The main character of this story travels with an afronaut suit, which lets them camoflauge yet at the same time it makes them curiously visible. The journey is influenced by several meetings with local people and SKA workers, that guides the explorer’s route. This project formalizes itself in a film, several impressions in diferents formats and materials, as well the edition of two photobooks, one of which goes with the piece Earth Constellation.

Cosmic expedition, 2017. Digital printing. Enhanced Matt paper 190gsm, 84,1 x 118,9 cm.

Cosmic expedition. Since the origin of humankind to the origin of the universe, 2017. Film (Coming soon).

Travel from the Cradle of Humankind to the installations of the biggest radiotelescope in the world. Realizing an investigation on the myths of origin in relation with the cosmos within African context, above the territory where these installations are placed and their relation with the community. Engineers and astronomers were interviewed on how the SKA SA works, which is developing on an international level that imposes itself on a space that is not theirs, focusing their interest toward the exterior.

Afronaut suit, 2017. Motorcycle helmet (22 x 21 x 33 cm): Beads work, design by Mar Guerrero, made by Martha Mtshweni. Jumpsuit (Small size) and bag (38 x 38 x 8 cm): 100% printed cotton that comes from Accra in Ghana, design by Mar Guerrero, made by Aunthentic 31, Johannesburg.

The figure of the afronaut refers to the space program created by Edward Makuka Nkoloso, member of the Zambia resistent movement and founder of the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy. This unusual teacher created a group formed by students, called afronauts, whose mission was to send a 17 years old girl (Matha Mwambwa) and two cats to the Moon, in the context of the Cold War, when the USA and USSR were immersed in the space race towards the terrestrial satellite. In Cosmic expedition film, this historical character makes all these issues accessible to the community though, instead of traveling to another planet, it investigates its own territory.

Earth constellation, 2017. Digital printing. Enhanced Matt paper 190gsm, 79,3 x 118,9 cm. Earth constellation consists of a set of plaster spheres that are deposited in the landscape along the journey. Reference to The Nile Meridian, set of sites where, from a symbolic point of view, the Nile terrestrial imitates the Celestial Nile or Milky Way.

31.231386 | 22.317567, 2017. Digital printing. Enhanced Matt paper 190gsm, 21 x 29,7 cm.

Earth constellation, 2017. Installation view. Digital printing. Enhanced Matt paper 190gsm, 21 x 29,7 cm (x26).

Earth constellation, 2017. Map. Offset printing, glossy paper 100 grs, 50 x 70 cm. The route drawn from Sterkfontein to SKA SA is displayed. The stars mark the points where the spheres have been placed.

Open Studio at Nirox Foundation, South Africa.

Cosmic expedition: From Sterkfontein to SKA SA, 2017. Digital printing. Enhanced Matt paper 190gsm, 59,4 x 84,1 cm.