Following the path shown by nature

Text: Karen Naundorf

Everything the poet and multimedia artist Edgar Calel creates is related to the bigger picture: to life per se and to nature, which itself is life and makes life possible. In his work, Calel explores the complexity, spirituality, rituals and practices of the Kaqchikel, a Mayan community in Guatemala.

Born in San Juan Comalapa, just 80 kilometres from the capital Guatemala City, Calel grew up in a creative environment: his father was a painter and his mother worked with hand-woven textiles. He began studying at the national art academy in Guatemala City in 2005. Every day he would take the bus along bumpy roads to the city – two hours there, two hours back. He would look out of the window and hone his observational skills. Later he continued this practice while strolling through the city and around museums.

To find the inspiration and calm state of mind he requires for his work, Edgar Calel needs to have space for his materials and to be close to Mother Earth. He has both in his home town of San Juan Comalapa. Nonetheless, he spends considerable time travelling around the world, as do his works. As part of important collections, they are exhibited in places such as the Tate Gallery in London, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and the National Gallery in Ontario.

In late 2022, Calel spent three months in Berlin on a DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program scholarship. “This time was a gift. What I experienced there is present in my memories and in my constant quest.” Though admitting that it is possible to collaborate on or even experience all kinds of things remotely nowadays, he says: “I believe it is very important to preserve the dynamics involved in bringing things together. What are our expectations and visions of life? I got to know artists from various disciplines – curators, migrants and people who had left their country because of war.” Calel’s work also addresses the systematic racism and marginalisation that Guatemala’s indigenous ­population experiences every day. One great hope he has for the future is therefore “autonomy for indigenous peoples. They should not be dependent on any institutions or companies that could exploit or threaten them. This has been happening ever since the colonial era and continues to this day.” What he would like to see in the present is harmony with nature, which he sees as the basis for what is to come: “The ­future will happen if life ­permits it.” —

Watch our video portrait to see a work by Edgar Calel being created.