Tania Candiani

This piece was inspired by a representation of the rivers of the Valley of Mexico on a sixteenth-century map, marking tributaries that have since disappeared. The piece, a ceramic sculpture that visitors can cross, step on and inhabit, reproduces the hydrography of these rivers, which were broad and abundant until they disappeared during the Conquest as part of a strategy of desiccation and territorial control. The piece’s cartography and volume allow it to collect rain, which once more fills those pathways and channels with water. This piece is presented as an exercise in remembering and restoring the devastated geography of this lake city. At the same time, it references the current global problem of water consumption and its exploitation as a common good.