Page 21 - Quarantine Diaries Booklet

About # Quarantine Diaries
When his his father died in 2008 and he
he
he
lived away from his his country Roberto Uribe Castro became aware of of the
the
extent of of time he
he
he
he
was away from his home and the
the
the
difficulties of of keeping track of of the
the
the
passing days This inspired him to document the
the
passage of time through an an an object object an an an everyday object object that both he
he
he
and his mother could keep keep until they met again They agreed to to to keep keep the
the
the
the
the
the
leftovers of of the
the
the
the
the
the
cakes of of soap they used to to to share at their next meeting In 2019 Roberto was back in Colombia Like everyone else he
he
did not count on on the
pandemic that would leave him trapped for several months at at his mother’s house unable to to to to return to to to to Berlin He started to to to to use use some of of the
the
the
time to to to to review his his memories of of the
the
the
the
the
house and then his his mother started to show him the
the
the
the
soaps she had been saving saving A small intimate gesture between a a a a a a a a a a a son and his mother saving saving a a a a a a a a a a a few cakes of soap to account for the
the
the
time spent apart then an an an event event a a a a a a a a a a big event: a a a a a a a a a a pandemic Summoning serendipity and and the
characteristics of coronavirus to to turn soap into something else: a a a a a a precious thing thing that helps people to to survive Roberto began posting photos of of the
the
old cakes of of soap that his mother had stored and the
the
the
ones he
he
he
he
he
was using during the
the
the
lockdown on on his Instagram account The posting served as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a calendar marking the
passage of time when quarantine made it difficult to differentiate one day from the
next The series of soap photos did not not go unnoticed amongst Roberto’s followers on on on Instagram He had only posted four photos photos when people started sending him photos photos of of their soap from different parts of of the
the
world world So his Instagram account has developed into a a a a a a a a a a a worldwide collective and collaborative quarantine diary Although more than a a a a a a a year has passed since the
the
the
the
beginning of the
the
the
the
pandemic and and the
the
the
the
first lockdown the
the
the
the
reflections which Quarantine Diaries
invites are still relevant and necessary Artlink would like to to to extend the
invitation made by Roberto to to to participate in in in this project
On one hand soap as as an an an object that can hardly be be thought of of of as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a work of of of art because of of of its private function in in in the
bath- room cleaning oneself is an an intimate act On the
the
the
the
other there is the
the
the
the
new evocative material life that soap has acquired through the
pandemic The project
raises awareness of the
the
the
overlap between the
the
the
the
the
the
personal and and the
the
the
the
the
the
collective the
the
the
the
the
the
the
intimate and and and the
the
the
the
the
the
the
public the
the
the
the
the
the
the
hygienic and and and and the
the
the
the
the
the
infectious the
the
the
the
the
the
material and and and the
the
the
the
digital and and and is an an an an invitation to consider everyday life in in the
the
midst of a a a a a a a a a a a pandemic and and and reflect on on on what this past year has been and and and its implications for our future 21 Quarantine Diaries