¿Quiénes son los Monstruos Menores?
Who are the Minor Monsters?
Esta idea del diseñador escénico chileno como una especie extraña nos ha rondado desde siempre. ¿Qué diseñador no ha tenido que explicar lo que hace con detalle a cada persona nueva que conoce? Y es que nuestro trabajo es tan bello y gratificante como desconocido e invisibilizado. Con estas inquietudes nace el proyecto Monstruos Menores, que es al mismo tiempo una humorada y un homenaje; un museo de historia natural de bolsillo que exhibe a nuestros colegas como las raras criaturas que son, engendros inspirados en las propias obsesiones y las particularidades de cada artista; tan diversos como entrelazados por lazos casi sanguíneos.
El nombre de la instalación proviene del libro “América Imaginaria” de Miguel Rojas Mix, una fascinante recopilación del imaginario que Europa desarrolló sobre Latinoamérica desde incluso antes de invadirla. Esta asociación nos pareció pertinente al exponer a estos “ejemplares exóticos” del diseño escénico chileno en un encuentro europeo, haciendo una cita indirecta e irónica a los zoológicos humanos que exhibían a los indígenas de América a fines del siglo XIX para el entretenimiento del hombre blanco.
Esta es sólo una pequeña muestra del enorme potencial que posee el diseño escénico chileno, pues aún quedan muchos monstruos por descubrir y registrar. Aún así, los dejamos invitados a descubrir a estos fantásticos monstruos, cuyas asombrosas características los deslumbrarán y les harán ver las infinitas posibilidades que ofrece la fauna teatral chilena.
When you walk into the Theatre School of the Universidad de Chile -the only university that offers a Stage Design program- it is easy to spot two kinds of people. First, are the acting students, extroverts, always speaking loudly or stretching in a corner but, if you keep walk- ing down the hall to the rooms in the back, you will encounter a different species: the stage design students. These characters are clearly more inhibited than their actor classmates and, though their outfits may be more eccentric, their shy gaze gives away their desire to hide or disappear.
We have always thought about the idea of the Chilean stage designer as some sort of strange species. Is there a stage designer that hasn’t had to explain carefully to every new person he meets what it is they do? For the fact remains, that our work is as beautiful and gratifying as it is unknown and invisible. These are the thoughts that brought about the Minor Monsters project, part roast, part homage; it’s a pocket-sized natural history museum that puts our colleagues on exhibit as the rare creatures they are, as beasts formed out of each artist’s obsessions and peculiarities, as diverse as they are related, almost by blood.
The title of the installation comes from the book “Imaginary America” by Miguel Rojas Mix, a fascinating compilation of the European imaginary about Latin America before even invading it. The association seemed particularly relevant for the exhibition of the “exotic specimens” of Chilean Stage Design in a European context, in an oblique ironic reference to the late 19th century exhibition of indigenous peoples at human zoos for the white man’s entertainment.
This is only a small sample of the enormous potential of Chilean stage design, for there are still so many more monsters to discover and account for. That being said, we cordially invite you to come and discover these fantastic monsters whose awesome characteristics will astound you and open your eyes to the infinite possibilities the Chilean theatrical fauna has to offer.
Felipe Olivares
Juan Andrés Rivera
Equipo Curatorial
Monstruos Menores.
