Maya Staendeke
Keywords: Stone, Kin, Indigenous mythology
The installation 'Earthen Kin' is inspired by the artists heritage of the Khasi tribe (Meghalaya, India), where ancient monoliths act as both sacred remnants of ancestral worship and geological kin. Many folklores are rich with tales of stone and earth. These kinetic sculptures bring attention to stones as dynamic, interactive entities. Let these sculptures guide you towards a deeper connection with the living matter of the geological realm.
What kind of relationship do we foster with the geological world?
Do we see it only as a resource to extract from or can we find ways of being in kinship with it?
In a remote area in the North-East of India, hidden in the cloudy hills of Meghalaya lies the home of the tribe of the Khasi. In Khasi culture monoliths can be found all over the region of Meghalaya and one can see them lying unnoticed and remaining along the remote stretches, remnants of ancestral worship that echo through time.
These mysterious, ancient monuments act as ancestral worship remnants of ancestral worship that echo through time and geological kins. The Khasi people weave their folklore around nature, with many tales centered on rocks and the earth. The three sculptures are characterised by those tales, each one of them telling a different myth - from stones that devour people to twin stones having a race.
The kinetic sculptures in this installation are inspired by these Khasi folktales, bringing to life the stony characters from their myths. Each sculpture embodies the essence of these ancient stories, reshaping the characteristics of rocks to create earthen creatures - from a stone that devours people, to twin stones having a race. These creatures live and breathe, not as static stones, but as dynamic beings that interact with their environment. They personify the megaliths as anthropomorphic kin, bridging the gap between the human and geological worlds.
Can we see the earth as a living, breathing entity deserving of respect and reverence?
Let these earthen creatures guide you towards a deeper understanding of our shared existence with the geological world.
