“LULLABY”
“Beyond Barroque” organized by art+château at Museum Schloss Waldegg.
Curated by Vallentina Locatelli.
2022
Photos: Daniele Molajoli.
Courtesy art+château
about lullaby
“The large site-specific installation conceived and developed by the artist for the exhibition at Waldegg Castle. In the backyard of the castle, in a space which is less representative and far humbler than the luxuriant Baroque front garden, Aguilar built a mound of 7.5 cubic meters of earth collected locally.
He then planted an aluminium megaphone on top of it which he had previously painted in gold. The song played by the megaphone is Duerme Negrito (Sleep, little black one), interpreted by the soothing voice of singer MAR BOREAL (b. 1991 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras), who collaborated with Aguilar for the production of his installation.
This popular Latin American lullaby finds its origin during the Spanish colonial period, when it was commonly sung by black women slaves working in the coffee plantation at the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The song, which was popularised in the mid-20th century by musicians Atahualpa Yupanqui and Mercedes Sosa, is still well-known throughout Latin America and in use to this day. With Lullaby, Aguilar is offering a theatrical and playful parody of the Spanish colonisation and of the perpetration of its same methods in the context of a globalised capitalism.
The physical presence of the relatively small mound of earth to symbolise the exploitation of natural resources and people in Latin America feels ironically small when compared to the grandeur of the Swiss Baroque castle. At the same time, the use of cheap gold paint to cover a mass-produced mega-phone serves as a poignant reminder of the gold stolen by the conquistadores and of its use in much European and colonial Baroque art.”
Dr. Valentina Locatelli
He then planted an aluminium megaphone on top of it which he had previously painted in gold. The song played by the megaphone is Duerme Negrito (Sleep, little black one), interpreted by the soothing voice of singer MAR BOREAL (b. 1991 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras), who collaborated with Aguilar for the production of his installation.
This popular Latin American lullaby finds its origin during the Spanish colonial period, when it was commonly sung by black women slaves working in the coffee plantation at the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The song, which was popularised in the mid-20th century by musicians Atahualpa Yupanqui and Mercedes Sosa, is still well-known throughout Latin America and in use to this day. With Lullaby, Aguilar is offering a theatrical and playful parody of the Spanish colonisation and of the perpetration of its same methods in the context of a globalised capitalism.
The physical presence of the relatively small mound of earth to symbolise the exploitation of natural resources and people in Latin America feels ironically small when compared to the grandeur of the Swiss Baroque castle. At the same time, the use of cheap gold paint to cover a mass-produced mega-phone serves as a poignant reminder of the gold stolen by the conquistadores and of its use in much European and colonial Baroque art.”
Dr. Valentina Locatelli
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