GABRIELA VALLEJO

The third side of the tricorn hat. It is an action that likes rummaging through the remains of the past to verify what we do not know about it. It is such a strong impulse from the spirit that it manages to open new paths from the past to coincide with known things or to re-conduct us towards other itineraries (some may appear absurd or rather obscure, but they will always have a sense). And sometimes we will make the trip with dubious partners (from pirates to adventurers and scoundrels of all sorts), in paper or through papers, that help us to draw the map of new historical endeavors. 

​

History

 History with capital H is a continuous process of discovery, and it passes by the histories with small h, even those that seem meager and are almost forgotten. It is after all a process of putting in doubt many (and sometimes all) things we believe to be true, which implies putting new pieces in an enormous puzzle which in the end give the impression to unfix things that had been fixed centuries before. This may bother some people, but the historian cannot help it. He is somewhat a professional troublemaker.

​

The book

 An obsession that does not begin or end with the first or last page. A mystery, since the stories that live inside have a tendency to escape: they end up creating others and they keep on changing, even if we keep an eye on them. It is a parameter that helps me to measure what other people thought and how they made other people think, crossing all possible frontiers in different historical periods.

​

Cartography

 Where things happen. In several places at the same time, even if far away. Sometimes places are superposed or get to influence one another, so we must be very alert, since what happens in Paris or Naples may create earthquakes in Mexico or Manila. And from distant points new routes are invented to Flanders or all the way to China.

​

Reinterpretation

 An evergoing possibility that makes conclusions keep changing. The work is always fragmentary and complete at the same time, for it offers new insights for comprehension and it get actualized by what happens in the present moment.