Opening: Friday, August 8th, 7 p.m Reconstructing Memory explores a historical period that, although overlooked, is integral to the Patagonian territory. The title is based on a series of unpublished photographs taken by the renowned artist Annemarie Heinrich during her trip to Santa Cruz in 1958, which lie at the core of this project. Her distinctive use of light, keen eye and disruptive perspectives offer a new imagery for this period. This collection was specially selected for BIENALSUR and printed at Heinrich's still-active workshop. It is presented alongside the work of two contemporary photographers from Santa Cruz: Berta Giménez, whose series Vestiges documents the abandoned meat packing plants overtaken by the steppe, and Adriana Opacek, whose project Meat Packing Plants captures iron remnants and debris in their original settings. The perspectives of three women on this “white gold” era at the turn of the 19th century and the 20th century represent a record of images. “(…) The gazing eye hears words that baptise the images it sees and those it does not. Upon hearing them, it imagines them. The gazing eye designs the images and thus imagines the world (…)" (The Eye That Writes, Luis Felipe 'Yuyo' Noé, 2024). The images translate into words, emotions, memory, and awareness. At that time, millions of sheep were a source of wealth for the region ships loaded with hides, meat and tallow set sail from Argentine and Chilean Patagonian ports bound for Europe. The consular residence that houses Reconstructing Memory is contemporary with this historical period. Its original owner, Mr. Francisco Bermúdez, had interests in the timber and meatpacking industries of Magallanes in Río Seco. "Some farmers from the southern area of Río Gallegos (Argentina) also send their livestock to the ‘Compañía Frigorífica de la Patagonia’, located in Puerto Sara, in the Strait of Magellan, while others, who have their ranches in Lago Argentino and Última Esperanza Sound, send theirs to Puerto Bories (Natales), to the facilities of the ‘Compañía Explotadora de la Tierra del Fuego’."(Argentine Patagonia, Chapter: "The Meatpacking Plants", 1924) In collective memory, closure and abandonment have a fragmented imprint, as if the pieces were not part of a seemingly inexistent whole. In this context, the ruins of the meat-packing plants may symbolise neglect. Reconstructing on one of the founding milestones that make up the matrix of identity is significant, rescuing images that contribute to memory. Can meat packing plants serve as a metaphor that challenges us and provides clues for society?
Image: Annemarie Heinrich, Frigorífico CAP Puerto Deseado, 1958