Open Archive. The Painted Stone is a curatorial and collaborative research project on a natural-cultural monument located in the northernmost rural area of Uruguay, in the Department of Artigas. The project is conducted in an expanded territory, geographically and symbolically distant from the world of art and hegemonic culture, though the focus in this case is on the hegemony of the South. The objective of this proposal is to question the great canonical narratives that from the scientific field are established as unique and to promote the development of autonomous critical thinking. The exhibition invites to reflect upon and question these scientific principles by integrating singularities and relative positions on an equal footing. These particularities are constructed through a series of legends, personal histories, and local knowledge concerning this monument and its surroundings. To this end, Michael Bahr works together with the community of this rural area in order to revalue the natural and cultural heritage of the region and of those of us who are drawn to these stories.
Through procedural exercises, this type of artistic practice promotes cultural decentralization and democratization of access to cultural goods. From a singular territory, far from any center, this process is constructed and consolidated as an alternative practice within the art world that enables and reaffirms the creation of an inclusive, diverse and complementary cultural citizenship.
Patricia Bentancur
