In the “La Unión” bakery in Tolhuin , a large artistic work about the Malvinas Islands; will come to life in the coming weeks thanks to the talent of the Argentine plastic artist and sculptor Marcelo Bonfanti . The initiative of the baker businessman Emilio Sáez , which was presented to the ex-combatants of Tierra del Fuego in November 2022; comes to life to transform into a pictorial and sculptural piece approximately “3.5 meters high and more than 2 meters wide,” explained the author, in a first dialogue with the Fuegian press.
The connection between Bonfanti and Sáez was established through Daniel Guzmán, former Malvinas combatant soldier, journalist, director of Agenda Malvinas and childhood friend of the artist .
The idea of the work emerged as a broader approach that transcends the 74 days in which the 1982 war between Argentina and Great Britain lasted. It explores various layers of the complexity that the Malvinas Question has in diplomatic political terms, its geostrategic position in the South Atlantic and its location in the southern immensity.
The work, made mainly of synthetic materials, to guarantee lightness on the destination wall; presents the Malvinas Islands floating in the center, surrounded by Latin America. The world rotates quickly, highlighting Africa from a lateral perspective. The Big Island of Tierra del Fuego, prominently surrounds the archipelago, symbolizing the visual reflection on the belonging of the Malvinas , decreasing towards Mexico in a continental embrace.
The narrative of the work delves into colonialism, representing England as a smaller and more distant element within a labyrinth. This labyrinth spreads throughout the work, symbolizing the complexities generated by colonialism in areas such as the financial system, diplomacy and companies.
Although the Malvinas and the war are subtly addressed, Bonfanti also highlights that the work is not limited to the past, but rather focuses on the continued relevance of the Malvinas in the present. The impact encompasses issues of sovereignty and the plundering of resources both in the sea as in culture.
The work culminates with the representation of the southern stars, the Southern Cross and the constellation of Alpha and Beta Centauri on the outside. These elements, used globally by astronomers to locate the South, suggest a human perspective in the midst of territorial disputes and war conflicts.
Marcelo Bonfanti praised the opportunity to work on this work, highlighting the commitment and pleasure of collaborating with Emilio Sáez.
The piece will represent a striking visual testimony of the unfair reality that surrounds our Malvinas Islands and its permanent relevance today.
The inauguration is scheduled before next April 2.
Bonfanti's extensive artistic career
Although much of his career was done through painting, for more than four decades, he has used all the available resources of art to develop his artistic narrative: painting, sound, sculpture, staging, 3D animation, mapping and digital art .
In that period of time he has built monumental sculptures in various public spaces, for museums and on behalf of the National University of Córdoba and the University of La Punta in San Luis.
He has performed staging at the “Night of Museums”, sculptures, carnival montages and projections of ephemeral art in Argentina and abroad. And to the 35 individual exhibitions, there are countless workshops, conferences, publications and development of technological projects. interdisciplinary.
In the last period, his prolific artistic work has developed from an aesthetic language of ancestral Latin America, using visual codes that carry scientific information.
To the date; Marcelo Bonfanti has sculptures in 16 museums and 8 monumental works in public spaces. In addition to this, he has carried out 7 stagings in the country, another 5 abroad and held 15 conferences in various scientific and cultural institutions.
Self-taught artist; He has taught workshops and art courses, carried out teacher training for multimedia schools, and has worked as a teacher in automation and robotics technology at the University of La Punta San Luis.
In his long career, he has received countless awards and scholarships; such as those granted by the company Arnet , the University of La Punta , the Government of San Luis , the Government of Córdoba , the Science and Technology Agency of Córdoba , UNESCO , the Presidency of the Nation , the National University of Córdoba, from the Ministry of Culture of the Nation , from the Ministry of Science and Productive Innovation of the Nation , from the Organization of Ibero-American States , from Magazine IlCelo-Italia , Democritus Properties,LLC, 2006 All rights reserved Carl Sagan–Ann Druyan ; National Fund for the Arts and Manage future Ministry of Culture of the Nation ; among many others.
