La Voz de los Martillos (The Hammers' Voice)

    Activity: Participating in or organising an event typesFestival/Exhibition

    Description

    "The voice of the hammers: pre-Columbian techniques in use" is the result of the research of Emilia Ferraro PhD. and her team, and a scientific and educational collaboration between the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Arts and Design (DJCAD- University of Dundee), the "Endangered Material Knowledge" Program (EMKP) of the British Museum, and the “Casa del Alabado” Museum of pre-Columbian Art.
    The knowledge, techniques and practices that shaped early pre-Columbian metallurgy continue to circulate through artisans who reinterpret the creations of the past. Gabriela Andrade, Fernando Buitrón and Germán Campos, renowned masters of three goldsmith workshops in Quito, and Sandra Wilson, professor hemerita of Ecological Metal Design at DJCAD and Scottish silversmith, took up techniques of pre-Hispanic origins and Spanish influences, conceiving their art as a set of unique knowledge, based on the ancestral Andean worldview, as well as on the history of metals in this territory. In particular, the technique of 'embutido' , that is, of raising vessels by hammering from the inside, is a unique technique that defines Ecuadorian goldsmithing and highlights it on the international silversmithing stage.
    This is a process of documentation, research, and accessibility to knowledge systems associated with the creation, use, repair and reuse of material objects, spaces, architecture, performances and environments. Between 2022 and 2024, the main techniques, designs, materials and tools used in Ecuadorian goldsmithing were filmed in three workshops in Quito by the EMKP-funded research team led by Emilia Ferraro (DJCAD). The pieces on display, along with their material references in pre-Hispanic art and digital records, will be uploaded on the digital repositories of the British Museum in London, and the Casa del Alabado Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in Quito.
    Period15 Jun 202431 Dec 2024
    Event typeExhibition
    LocationQuito, EcuadorShow on map
    Degree of RecognitionInternational

    Keywords

    • Silversmithing
    • Pre-Columbian
    • Ecuador