(Colombia), (United Kingdom)

In March we were visited by Cristina Ochoa, Columbian architect and visual artist and Neil Pyatt, CEO of La Pared, contemporary artist, journalist, sociologist, and anthropologist from the United Kingdom.  Their project was entitled, The Garden of Oblivion.

This project is part of an investigation that goes back to the pharmacological uses of Solanaceae and the investigation of entheogenic plants, popularly known as Floripondio, and associating them with the history modern pharmacy and its ancestral use in witchcraft, shamanism, herbalism, medicinal and sacred plants. Cristina questions this knowledge from political, systemic, economic tensions of neoliberal hegemonies and some other social and cultural reflections around her subject of study.

The piece lies in developing a garden and planting floripondio so that attendees can be near the plant to “forget the old story and remember a new one.” The result: create a space where, in addition to identifying the plants, people can relax and live together.

The LILHA team formed a close connection between Cristina, Neil and people from the community of Lo de Marcos, Sayulita, San Ignacio and San Pancho…those with a particular knowledge and taste for plant care, especially medicinal plants of the region.  Residents visited each town, building a space of proximity and intimacy, and sharing similar interests. They invited people to donate some species of plants from their own gardens and crops and to join in a collaborative effort to plant a community garden.

Additionally, the artist toured the streets of each town again and again, collecting more wild plants that she managed to identify as medicinal, complementing those that her new friends had donated for the project.

Two gardens were built: The Magic Garden  and The Garden of Oblivion.  The Magic Garden was started at EntreAmigos where a garden was started a year earlier by Imiari students, following concepts of sacred geometry.  It was supported by Ana Paula González, Mónica González Figueroa, and neighbors and guardians of the plants in San Pancho. Cristina and Neil prepared a map with the names of each of the plants so that visitors can consult with their devices through a QR code the names, medicinal uses and applications of each. The Garden of Oblivion was created at the Orquídeas house, the current headquarters of LILHA. This garden acted as an offering to the endless cycle of life-death-rebirth in which several members of the local community participated. In these workshops, the popular uses of the plants were collected and the tensions around them were discussed.

In turn, Neil Pyatt gave a writing workshop applied to shared experiences based on a method and questionnaire commonly used in journalism so attendees could explore, in depth, descriptive and narrative notions, the use of observation and the possibility of bonding and social interaction from the exercise of the written word.

Cristina Ochoa presented her portfolio at the University Center of the Coast of UDG in Puerto Vallarta for Visual Arts undergraduate students. In an extensive and interesting journey, she shared a variety of work throughout her career, from research and curating to project production and cultural management.

She studied architecture at the Pontificia University Javeriana, and at the National University in Bogotá, Colombia and is part of the first generation of SOMA Mexico Fellows. In 2005, she has exhibited works internationally in museums, galleries, independent and public spaces.