SPINNING DREAMS INTO STORIES AND WEAVING STORIES INTO DREAMS: CLAUDIA ALARCÓN
Claudia AlarcónAnd once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
There is a legend. Beautiful women lived as stars in the sky. Once in a while they descended to earth using woven chaguar ropes to eat fish caught by fishermen. Men discovered this and used birds to cut the ropes, trapping the celestial beauties on earth. So the women stayed. Not only they stayed, but continued weaving and passed on their heavenly knowledge to their daughters.
This is a folklore story by the Wichí people, an indigenous group native to the Gran Chaco region, spanning Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, with a deep connection to the land, and a cultural heritage rich in oral traditions, craftsmanship, and a profound respect for nature. Today, many Wichí have been driven from their lands, a situation worsened by provincial laws and deforestation from the agricultural industry. Historically marginalized and facing the encroachment of modern development, they have nevertheless fought to preserve their way of life and cultural identity.
Claudia AlarcónAdulthood is the ever-shrinking period between childhood and old age. It is the apparent aim of modern industrial societies to reduce this period to a minimum.
Thomas Szasz
This is a story about the shift from childhood to adult rules, chores and responsibilities. Wichí girls begin learning to spin chaguar and weave practical items at the age of 12, to earn a living and preserve cultural traditions. Weaving is also a form of communication among Wichí women, where geometric designs convey unspoken thoughts, values and dreams.
For generations, Wichí women have mastered extracting chaguar fiber from its tough leaves. They spend half the year harvesting the plant in small groups, using wooden spades or machetes. They then soak, pound, clean, dry, and spin the fibers into threads, which are then dyed with natural pigments.
Claudia AlarcónAll things truly wicked start from innocence. So you live day by day and enjoy what you have and do not worry. You lie and hate it and it destroys you and every day is more dangerous, but you live day to day as in a war.
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
In the remote community of La Puntana, Argentina, tradition and innovation come alive through the hands of Claudia Alarcón, a textile artist of the Wichí people, using the native chaguar plant.
Claudia's journey into the world of textiles also began at 12, when she learned the ancient craft of processing, spinning, and dyeing chaguar fibers.
Alongside her fellow artists in the Silät collective, Claudia transforms these traditions into large-scale artworks. Together, they create pieces that break away from traditional geometric patterns, embracing fluid forms of color that reflect the cycles of nature.
These works, which made their debut at the Venice Art Biennale, kare deeply rooted in the stories and dreams of their community's elders, weaving together the visual culture, narrative history, and economic lifeblood of the Wichí people, bringing their voices into international art dialogues.
