Video installation I Tarahumara Project

TARAHUMARA PROJECT

VIDEO INSTALLATION BY PEDRO VALIENTE

TARAHUMARA PROJECT (2014-2019, Spain/Mexico, 20min) video installation

“Happiness consists of being still. It is accomplished only when your heart is in harmony with your the thoughts that live in your forehead and the body that you inhabit in this life”. —Quetzalcoatl has spoken

Tarahumara Project presents a contemporary view on legendary people in America as they face modern elements in a desert landscape. It is a contemplative portrait of an enigmatic pueblo known in the world as unique runners. (IMDb)

SYNOPSIS

Tarahumara Project is a look of the soul. A recollection of hidden memories. The father, mother, daughter, son, and grandmother enter the scene to establish a rare dialogue with television monitors in the middle of a desert of rocks.

Images of the elements —earth, air, water, fire— appear as an invasion of modern times into their ancient way of life. The Tarahumara are a Native American people of Northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability. Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the high sierras and canyons such as the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish explorers in the 16th century. (IMDb)

At he start of the project, a social/political reflection was considered introducing historic figures linked to Chihuahua: Pancho Villa (soldier/politician, Chih), Adelita (soldier’s partner, Chih), David Alfaro Siqueiros (muralist, Camargo), Agustín Melgar (Hero Boy, Chih), Luis H. Álvarez (politician, Camargo), Antonio Ortiz Mena (diplomat, Parral), José Fuentes Mares (philosopher/writer Chih), Pedro de Jesús Maldonado (saint, Chih), Felipe Ángeles (soldier, Chih), Anthony Quinn (actor, Chih).

PHOTO: PEDRO VALIENTE

CAST

Tarahumara families (Father, Mother, Baby, Daughter, Son, Grandmother)

CREW

Director/producer: Pedro Valiente, Producer: Eugenio Valles, Executive producer: Virginia Aceves, Postproduction producer: Isaac Estrella, Director of photography: Mario Gutiérrez, Photography: Leonardo Martínez, Production coordinator: Pamela Pérez

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Tarahumara pueblo, Valles Medina family I Ivonne Juárez, Virginia Aceves, Isaac Estrella, Jorge del Rivero, Tecnológico de Monterrey I Maria José Valles, Municipio de Chihuahua I Enrique Servín, Instituto Chihuahuense de la Cultura

TECH INFO

Running time: 20min I Format: HD video, color I Country: Spain/Mexico

MULTIMEDIA

A disruptive element comes through the presence of television monitors as in the work by video art pioneer Nam June Paik. Screens show (digital) images of natural elements in a natural environment. Although neither the apparatus nor the visuals alter the calm atmosphere.

The video installation is conceived to be projected on four visual displays (surfaces) as screens, monitors or walls. The classic film language is deconstracted since continuity style and conventional flow of shots’ size are broken:

SCREEN 1: Family members and all family wide shot. SCREEN 2: Family members medium shot. SCREEN 3: Family members close up. SCREEN 4: Landscape.

TRANSMEDIA

Tarahumara Project is connected with a production outside the trilogy: an interdisciplinary website produced at Innovation Week 2013 in Tecnológico de Monterrey University, Campus Chihuahua. The Barbaric Country (El País Bárbaro) is made by students of different degrees from an idea by Pedro Valiente. Content includes graphic design, videos, photos, essays, and articles. Barbaric refers to a historical/sociological name to honor the brave people living in the harsh land of Chihuahua State.

FROM THE PRODUCER

“Tarahumara Project is technically a series of portraits in motion: a modern painting. With still photography, mostly open shots, and motionless poses, the series suggests a dialogue between an ancient culture and the contemporary world.

The final image blends static figures, lunar landscape, and present-day technology. All seems to have a paradoxical meaning. Tarahumaras, they said, did not see anything like this before.

In the middle of the harsh and beautiful Sierra Madre, two Tarahumara families bring to life their magical spirit in defiance of modern culture. Nevertheless, children master mobile phones.”

EUGENIO VALLES