Action for the Conference “Women and human rights. The right to have rights”, organized by Mujeres Mirando Mujeres for the City Council of Marratxí, in Mallorca. December 10, 2021.
The action has two parts. In the first, carried out outdoors, I work with ash that “comes out” by breaking extensions of my body. In the second, I detach myself from various elements that I draw from under the layers that cover me.
Breaking, releasing, detaching, purifying, unifying, bonding …
About the ash, it is interesting to observe the different, and even contradictory, symbols that it has in different cultures:
In the biblical tradition, ash refers to a feeling of humility. For the Jewish people, ash was a symbol that represented the transience of life and repentance of sins. Hans Biedermann explains in his Dictionary of Symbols that ash symbolizes mourning and repentance. Hartsuiker relates it to destruction and devastation, to the end of love. Ash symbolizes and favors fertility, so various farming peoples sprinkle their fields before sowing to promote germination. The ash also symbolizes the protection and cleansing of the spirit, the search for forgiveness after repentance. Ash also symbolizes the strengthening that fire can bring to people, that is why the Nahuatl smear their children with ashes. And finally, the ash symbolizes resurrection and rebirth. Furthermore, the Phoenix rises from the ashes…
Thanks to the MMM team for this invitation and for making me feel so welcome.
Thanks Patricia Moro for recording it.
