This series of photos presents the traces of several cacerolazos (casseroling). The images refer to the visible, marked pots; they also tell the history behind the marks, to the non-visible, the trauma of a violent landscape left over from the loud protests that for years were heard in the city of Caracas.
A cacerolazo -also known as caceroleo or cacerolada-, is a form of protest in which protesters make their discontent known through accompanied noise, typically by banging pots, pans or other household utensils.
The cacerolazo is characterized as a demonstration in rejection of government policies or certain government decisions, and rarely in favor of something. In this sense, it is a claim of popular interest far from partisan interests.
Demonstrators can take to the streets and concentrate in a specific place or participate from their homes, and in this way, the protest can achieve a high degree of adhesion and participation.
The practice of the cacerolazo in Venezuela was once an important factor within the polyphonies of social discontent. This tame form of strident expression amplifies a citizen demand, a collective protest, temporarily turning citizens into social actors.
Presentation
24 medium-to-large photographs of the bottom of the pans and pots used in the various protests in Caracas will be presented in the space along with the sound of interviews of the women whose casseroles, pots, and pans are the subject of the photographs.
The title of each photo is the name of the owner of the documented pot.
At certain times during the exhibition, the sound of caserolazos will interrupt for one minute the usually quiet space of the gallery.
Key Concepts
Trace:
- Footprint or sign left by something or someone in its wake.
- Remnant, sign or indication of an event.
Footprint:
- Arg., Bol., Chile, Ec., Nic., Par., Peru, Ur. and Ven. A road made by the more or less frequent passage of people, animals or vehicles.
Vestige:
- Ruin, sign or remnant of something material or immaterial.
Noise:
- Inarticulate auditory sensation, generally unpleasant.
- Everything annoying to the ear or, more precisely, like any unwanted sound.
