Naomi Rincón Gallardo
The Formaldehyde TripThu, Apr 2, 2020–Sat, Apr 4, 2020

In this psychedelic speculative fiction, Mexico City-based artist Naomi Rincón Gallardo has written and directed a cycle of songs and videos dedicated to murdered activist Alberta “Bety” Cariño, who defended indigenous territorial rights. The work is performed live with idiosyncratic and ornate props and costumes that echo Mexican B-side Sci-Fi films of the 60s and 70s, weaving together Mesoamerican cosmologies, decolonial feminist and queer perspectives, and lyrics addressing indigenous women’s struggles against the background of the dispossession of their bodies, cultures, and territories.

On an imagined journey through the underworld, Cariño encounters women warriors, witches, and widows, the dual-gendered goddess of death, and animals preparing her rebirth party. An axolotl, or Mexican salamander, in formaldehyde is the storyteller, agitating between fact, fiction, and friction as sounds and voices from the past lurk into the future.

Vocals are performed by Danishta Rivero, David Katz, and San Cha; music composed and produced by Federico Schmucler with vocal effect processing and sound co-arrangements by David Molina.

En esta ficción especulativa y psicodélica, la artista Naomi Rincón Gallardo, desde la Ciudad de México, ha escribido y dirigido un ciclo de canciones y videos dedicados a la activista asesinada Alberta “Bety” Cariño, quien defendida los derechos territoriales indígenas. La obra es realizada en vivo con utilerías idiosincrásicas y ornamentadas, referencias al cine mexicano de ciencia ficción de los 60s y 70s, enrollando juntos cosmologías mesoamericanas, perspectivas feministas y queer descolonizadas, y letras que abordan a las luchas de mujeres indígenas sobre el fondo del desposeimiento de sus cuerpos, culturas, y territorios.

Por un trayecto imaginada a través del inframundo, Cariño se encuentra a guerreras, brujas, y viudas, la deidad de la muerte de ambos sexos, y animales preparando su fiesta de retorno. Un axolotl preservado en formol juega el papel de narrador, agitando entre hechos, ficciones y fricciones durante que sonidos y voces del pasado cantan hacia el futuro.