“Sacred Threads” at Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg — Mousse Magazine and Publishing

From our governance structures and languages to ceremonies and relationships between nature and technology, the exhibition “Sacred Threads“ draws narratives that connect us to our past, future, and sense of identity. It presents artists from different continents with distinct cosmologies and transcendental cultures that explore how ancestral knowledge, through our relationship to nature, has evolved and continues to influence our lives, values, emotions, and art.

A telling example of the human-nature relationship comes from Slavic culture and mythology, where the forest holds a sacred and divine significance–serving as a connection between the physical and spiritual realms. Jura Shust, an artist born in Belarus, explores the symbolism of death and the transformative process that takes place in nature. According to Slavic beliefs, the spirits of the deceased reside within coniferous trees that act as vessels for their souls. These trees are seen as living beings with resin flowing, like blood, through their veins. However, when the tree is continuously cut into to collect resin for industrial use, as seen in the work Two or Three Girths Wide, it dies, causing the spruce tree to lose its needles as the spirit leaves. Shust’s works depict a complex symbiosis between life and death, exploring the eternal renewal cycle through the decomposition of organic matter.

Ana Mendieta’s work reminds us of the emotional bond between the self and the environments we grew up in, affecting both our physical and mental relationship with nature, especially when we are uprooted. Personal attachment to a place is closely related to our connection for the land and sense of responsibility we carry for it. Mendieta’s life and work give way to the emotional ties to the landscape, a reflection of her Afro-Cuban and indigenous traditions, which is further accentuated by her experiences of displacement. Mendieta’s first trip back to Cuba after her immigration to the United States resulted in the creation of her Escuturas Rupestres series. Inspired by indigenous female deities, the images portray the artist’s abstracted spiritual figure carvings in the limestone caves of her home country, which demonstrate an additional testament to the deep emotional and spiritual ethos of her practice.

Identity can be described as a sense of self, always built in relation to our environment, for instance, people, plants, animals, and the terrain, but also generational conflicts, politics, and technology. The work of PARKing CHANce and Mira Mann explores the impact of globalization and rapid modernization on Korean culture and identity. The film Night Fishing by PARKing CHANce depicts the portrait of a South Korean society filled with tension, hopes, and renunciation. It highlights the effects of cultural disconnection amid post-colonial upheavals, while portraying shamanism and folk beliefs as sacred and integral to Korea’s cultural identity. Whereas, Mira Mann, born and raised in Germany, merges Korean folklore with elements of Western European culture and contemporary art. They use musical storytelling (pansori) and shamanistic motifs to explore complex issues of identity and heritage in a rapidly changing world. By reinterpreting historic traditions and linking them with new ones, Mann offers a glimpse into transcultural influences and addresses social and gender dynamics across generations.

Beyond forming the foundations of identity at the base of our societies, the ever-changing notion of nature is redefined by new concepts throughout religion, science, art, and technology. Pamela Rosenkranz’s works challenge our perception of the natural world in the digital era, highlighting the blurred lines between the real and the artificial. In her series Healer Scrolls, she employs signs full of references—“snakeskin” for instance—to bridge the gap between nature’s uncontrollable forces and human belief systems. The snake is a symbol present in many, if not all, cultures. With associations ranging from health and healing, to life and death, the snake is also synonymous with both benevolent and malicious rituals. The snakeskin pattern, realized through cuts in paper, evokes the dual role of the skin–both protection from the environment and its ability to absorb it.

Participating artists:
PARKing CHANce, Mira Mann, Ana Mendieta, Pamela Rosenkranz, Jura Shust