Pinchazo 1
Project at a glance
Location: 100 Arthur St, Winnipeg, MB R3B 1H7
Artist: Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta
Documentarians: Daniel Chavez
Year: 2023
Services: Artist Capacity Building
1
Community gathering
6+
Sculptural artworks
1
artist-in-residence
About the project
Pinchazo 1 was the first event in a series of free installations hosted by Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta, who was inspired by roadside tire repair shops seen while travelling across Mesoamerica by land. The term ‘pinchazo’ is slang unique to Guatemala; whereas in México, they are referred to as ‘Vulcanizadoras’. This use of brightly coloured recycled tires as signage was one of the main sources of inspiration for many of the sculptural elements exhibited in Pinchazo 1.
This installation was intended to serve as a rest stop for community members passing through and to explore notions of reconnection, ancestry, relations, preservation and protection, movement and migration, deconstruction and repair, play and work, exchange, and, most importantly, nature. There is an eternal bond between the two places that Castillo Huerta calls home and physically making that connection was crucial for the artist–from the heart of the turtle (Treaty One Territory) right down to the tail (Mesoamerica). The experience of traversing Turtle Island, so as to reconnect with ancestral lands and cultural practices, travel ancient trade routes and visit with friends and relatives greatly influenced this body of work.
The backdrop for this event was a cold Exchange District back alley in downtown Winnipeg during a chilly November evening. The artist made and served a hot chocolate style drink made from 100% ceremonial grade Cacao that they brought back from Tuq’tuquilal, Lanquín, and Alta Verapaz in Guatemala. Guests were invited to warm up by trying the hot Cacao drink and dancing while they engaged with the installation and interacted with fellow community members.
“Through the CreateSpace Residency, I gained quite a bit of knowledge, experience, and connections with creative people. It was really interesting to be part of a residency across Canada with a very self-driven project with the support of the STEPS team along the way”
About the artists
Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta
Pablo Javier Castillo Huerta is an interdisciplinary artist and is the first of their family to be born on Treaty One Territory (Winnipeg, MB). Their parents migrated from Mesoamerica (Guatemala) to Canada in the 1980s. Guatemala, as with most Latin American countries, has a complicated history of colonization, economic turmoil, foreign resource exploitation, state-sanctioned violence, corruption, and imperialism. Canada shares many of these same issues and these historical parallels are explored in Castillo Huerta’s practice. Castillo Huerta has a keen interest in the knowledge, mythology and histories of Indigenous peoples, specifically with that of their own Maya ancestry. Sustainability, activism, social justice and environmentalism are also deeply rooted in their practice – as a result, these concepts inform most of the processes, methodologies, locations and materials in their work. Their main disciplines include, but are not limited to: installation, sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, poetry, music, video and graphic design.
Funders
The 2023 CreateSpace Residency is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment. We also acknowledge the support of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation with funding provided by the Government of Canada.
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