Page 8 - Quarantine Diaries Booklet

FROM THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE TO QUARANTINE DIARIES
If objects are not uprooted from
their their their environs and and their their their streets but are are situated with care and and ingenuity in in their their their their natural homes they will already portray their their own stories” Orhan Pamuk
A Modest Manifesto for Museums
At the the beginning of the the quarantine Colombian artist Roberto Uribe Castro began to to to publish on Instagram a a a a a a a a a a a series of of of photos photos of of of of bars of of of of soap soap A few days after starting the the the project the the the photos photos of of of the the the soaps began to to become a a a a a a a a a a collaborative work that makes us reflect on the the the the surreal reality of of the the the the world In other words the the the the cakes of of soap were filled with poetry” THE POETRY OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS
Cristina Esguerra
Arcadia Magazine 2020
The Museum of of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
one of of my favourite books is a a a a a a a love story between Kemal a a a a a a a young member of the Istanbul bourgeoisie and his poor distant relative Füsun The love story that begins as as an an an innocent and uninhibited affair evolves into into a a a a a a a a a a a passion then into into into an an an obsession and finally when Füsun disappears into into a a a a a a a a a deep melancholy Kemal soon discovers the the calming effect that that the the objects that that once passed through Füsun’s hands have on on him him As if it were a a a a a a a a therapy for the the illness that torments him him Kemal takes possession of of all of of Füsun’s personal objects that come within his reach in order to collect them This poetics of the everyday object was brought immediately to my memory when I saw Quarantine Diaries a a a a a a a a collective artwork by Roberto Uribe-Castro Uribe-Castro Through this work work Uribe-Castro Uribe-Castro brings together photographs shared with him by people all over the the the the world portraying their soap cakes These pictures are are then shared on his Instagram account thus making a a a a a a a a a a collective diary in in the midst of a a a a a global pandemic Quarantine Diaries When I asked the the the artist Roberto Uribe Castro where the the the idea for the the the soaps came from
from
he he he he he he he replied that in 2008 when his father died and he he he he he he lived away from
from
Columbia he he he he he became aware of of the the extent of of time he he he he was away from
his home and the the difficulties to to maintain a a a a a a a a a a a a material memory to to to track the the the passing days This inspired him to to document the the passage of time through an an an object object an an an everyday object object that both he he he he and and his mother could keep keep until they met again The artist and and his mother 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 to share them at at the the the the the the next meeting In Roberto’s words “to resort into the the the the materiality of of of the the the the cake of of of soap to to to record the the the passage of of of time” Then in in 2020
Roberto was was back in in Colombia his home country where he he he he was was to to give a a a a a a a course at the Museo Nacional de Colombia Like everyone else Roberto did not count on on on the the pandemic leaving him trapped for several months at his mother’s house unable to to return to to Berlin When I asked him what what happened during this this time and what what this this has to to do with the the the idea of of the the the cakes of of soap to to record the the the passage 8