Kutenten - kutenten - kutenten Edgar Calel

Calel’s works are often grounded in attentive relationships with the earth, its elements, and animal-vegetal motifs and are known to playfully challenge Western conventions and perspectives of permanence. The artist’s use of the Kaqchikel language, transpositional awareness, and the reflexivity of his presence in the places he travels belong to a practice celebratory of the daily role of spirituality among his people and vigilant toward daily threats of exclusion and cultural erasure, particularly in relation to the violence and aftermath of the Guatemalan Civil War. 

Kit Kit K’o Jay [kit kit hay casa] (2024), a work centered around the exhibition’s motifs of sound and community reverberates “a sonoric gesture and translation, a gesture of feeding birds.” The gesture Calel references is the “kit kit ” birdcall the artist’s grandmother used to make, which Calel interprets in his art as resonating throughout the community. This bond is further present in the expressively depicted human figure in Kit Kit Che [kit kit arbol] (2024) formed entirely of boxes of script depicting the kit kit call, emphasizing the indivisibility of community among his people.  

Q’ojom Ab’ej [musica de piedra] (2024) emphasizes movement and vibrations within rocks, symbolizing the presence of spirits that enter and leave, with fire offerings made for them. The artist’s family, who engage in traditional candle-making, are key to understanding the intimacy of the work’s representation of candles and fire, whose different iterations and offerings highlight sonoric and spiritual properties and vibrations. Created with charcoal on unbleached canvas, the importance of this work is underscored by its depiction of ceremonial offerings to ancestors, as is customary in Kaqchikel Maya spiritual practice. This piece’s emphasis on animism and ceremony also relates to agricultural labor and prayer for a bountiful growing season. 

Tikonel [sembradores] (2024) touches on the significance of agriculture and the harvest prayer, specifically corn and corn banks for the Maya-Kaqchikel people. The work’s depiction of sowers in the field highlights the importance of agricultural labor in the artist’s local culture, reflecting, alongside other works in the same series, the community’s deep connection to the land and the cyclical nature of growth and sustenance in relation to “a historical base of memories of many generations,” autonomy, and planning for the future. 

Transitioning to more personal and familial themes, Tuktukikit (2024) depicts an image of the artist’s family in a forest. Created with charcoal on unbleached canvas, a tuk-tuk, a small motor car, represents the transport of people and information, also contemplating the role of art in cultural transmission. 

Further exploring personal narratives, Juxuj Panu Béy [trazos en mi camino] (2024) presents a self-portrait where Calel’s family watches him walk away, symbolizing the broad journey of an artist and Calel’s role as a cultural ambassador. The surrounding scribbles represent everything around him, with life and work connecting points within these scribbles to find a path. The artist depicts himself as a wanderer, wearing a jaguar hide, a recurring motif in his art that symbolizes strength and connection to his heritage, strength, and spirituality. This portrayal emphasizes Calel’s role in navigating between worlds, bridging his cultural roots with broader artistic expressions. Also engaging on a path of reflexivity, Retain Balalh [el peso de mi ser] (2024), a sculptural work, explores the concept of one’s being and its impact on the present and future, featuring an imprint of the artist’s foot inside. A candle placed inside the print emphasizes the importance of fire, signifying a connection between human beings and the land. This work, like others, emphasizes the significance of familial and communal connections while accenting the solitude of the artist’s path and its impact on the heritages he represents.