From February 20 to March 28, TOPO presents the digital and visual poetry installation Niyolchoca by artist Rodrigo Velasco in his exhibition window at the Pôle de diffusion de Gaspé. The installation explores four poems, each of which is a constellation exploring a symbolic universe strongly associated with Aztec cosmogony. Combining visual poetry and digital literature, the work activates non-linear processes and visual representations of spirituality in Náhuatl cosmogony.[1].

Based on poems originally written by women and poets of ancient Mexico, first published by Miguel León Portilla in “Quince poetas del mundo Náhuatl” (Fifteen Poets of the Nahuatl World).[2]Rodrigo Velasco explores generative processes to imagine indigenous futures through conversational poetics in cyberspace.

Niyolchoca means “my heart is sad.” It is a possible answer to the question: “Tlen ki ijtoa mo yolotl?” [translation: “What does your heart say?”]. This exchange reflects an important value in Náhuatl cosmogony: speaking and living with the heart. The installation Niyolchoca echoes another work by the artist, Niyolpaki, which means “my heart is happy.”

Les cuicamatl [translated as “song papers”] are another source of influence on the work, due to their importance in the Nahuatl world, but above all because of the wisdom and liveliness that characterize these books of lyric poetry. For León-Portilla, a cuicamatl is designed “not as a precious dried flower, but as a flower that opens and closes under the various rays of the sun, so that it can be appreciated by faces and hearts that have experienced similar situations in other circumstances.” [3]» (León-Portilla, 1978).

Rodrigo Velasco's installation carries within it this metaphor of the flower that lives with its variable and random unfolding, as evoked in relation to cuicamatlIts transformational and generative nature emphasizes the creation of trajectories rather than static images. By exploring the cross-cutting movements of thought and feeling, this installation celebrates life and the astonishing beauty of Náhuatl.

Niyolchoca is part of the first thematic cycle of the Frontière program proposed by TOPO for 2019–2021. Cultures, languages, spiritualities: beyond borders brings together three artists from across the Americas who explore the rediscovery of roots and heritage through questions about memory and death.

[1] Náhuatl is a macrolanguage from the Uto-Aztecan family, now spoken in several communities and the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico.

[2] León-Portilla, Miguel. “Thirteen Poets of the Aztec World,” National Autonomous University of Mexico, Institute of Historical Research, 1978.

[3] Texte original : not as a precious dry flower, but as one that opened again and again under the different rays of the sun, so that the faces and hearts that lived in varied circumstances could enjoy it’.