Antún Kojtom, un año después de recibir la Medalla Rosario Castellanos, vuelve a su taller con una pasión renovada, que se aprecia en esta nueva serie ahora sobre el concepto complejo del Ave-ch’ulel: la vibra cósmica que asume formas de gran significado en la cosmología maya. Un ser humano pajaril, las aves místicas-naturales, mensajeros en el mundo de nuestro día-a-día. Son seres de un mundo paralelo, al que las personas videntes – incluyendo a algunos artistas — tienen acceso imaginario.
Antún se muestra maestro de la sinestesia: la imagen que produce sensaciones audiales, táctiles. Una persona ve, escuchando el canto del pájaro. Es el cubístico “geometría maya”, que presta a lo multisensorial. Y al leer los textos acompañantes, uno puede sentir la voz-no-escuchable de los Naguales, habitando su mundo paralelo. Mediante estas imágenes con sus textos, se manifiestan contenidos míticos inmersos en la naturaleza, los hábitos de los pájaros descubiertos a través de los recuerdos de Kojtom de niño en su pueblo de Tenejapa, las creencias que aprendió de su cultura y de su personal experiencia con los pájaros (Naguales).
La presente exposición es un experimento, ya que es multifacética; se separa y reintegra en diferentes momentos y sitios. Kojtom transforma su producción pictórica en un arte procesual y comunitario. Reinserta sus conceptos-imágenes propios de regreso a su comunidad de Ch’ixaltontik, al crear un espacio cargado de energía, debajo del techo de la cancha comunitaria, donde instruye a jóvenes y niñes en conceptos locales del Nagual y les inspira a pintar sus emociones en grupos de mujeres, de hombres y mixtos. El 17 de junio de este año, Antún, junto con el profesor Juan Ramírez Hernández y el comité de educación, con su hijo Alux y apoyados por miembros de la GaleMUY, realizaron un taller donde 36 creadores reinventaron el arte motivado por energía ch’ulel con extraordinarios resultados.
Les jóvenes entran plenamente en esta expo. Se exponen sus obras en Ch’ixaltontik – atrayendo público de afuera – y se invitan a jóvenes de la comunidad a participar en la exposición en San Cristóbal. Se nos ocurre una imagen de “vasos comunicantes”, lo que pasa en un sitio “mágicamente” afecta lo que pasa en el otro. El arte maya/zoque contemporáneo es transterritorial, local y global: g/local.
Galería MUY
(curaduría colectiva dirigida por Xun Tontik y equipo de GaleMUY)
Julio 2023
Wind guardian
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2023
The character is conceived within the framework of Mayan geometry. Its bird shape and claws represent the bird-jaguar, the singer of the night and companion of the jaguar. The leaves depict this character as the spirit of nature.
Nahual of birds
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2022
It is a work that represents the guardian characters of nature and how they transform into birds to signify their presence. If there is excessive harm to nature, they appear at strategic points or enchanted places as birds, guiding you until you may get lost in the wilderness.
Ajkubal ts'unun (Night hummingbird)
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2022
It is a piece that recreates the nocturnal spirit of certain birds. In this case, it is the night hummingbird that feeds on flowers during the nights. It is very small and also sings occasionally. Its presence is often interpreted as an omen.
Slab tukut (Nahual of the woodpecker)
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2022
This artwork is a representation of a woodpecker that loves to steal corn seeds, especially during the sowing seasons or when the corn cobs start emerging. In my childhood, I always considered it as a nahual bird. Even though we took care of the cornfield or made noise, it always managed to enter like a ghost to take away the seeds.
Toht (Mockingbird)
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2022
It is a family of mockingbirds found in the highlands. In my childhood, I loved watching and admiring how this bird chose its favorite trees, especially the pines and oaks. They love perching on the tops of these trees, start singing, and I always wondered if it was a way of raising their song to the sun and the sky, or a form of singing to the other birds.
Kovex
Oil on paper
25 x 32.5 cm
2022
It is a bird that likes to prey on cornfields, “ko” means snail, and “vex” refers to the traditional Mayan undergarments, as this little bird seems to have a costume typical of the community. Unfortunately, I must say that in my community, it is already on the verge of extinction.
Jex nakum
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2022
Jex is a blue bird, and Nakum are birds of envious thoughts that the character is warding off. They project different thoughts onto a person or a family within the diagnoses made by a traditional healer. Sometimes, the cause of an illness can be diagnosed.
Sunset bird
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2019
The artwork represents all the evening birds that seek to contemplate the sunset, a scene I’ve observed since my childhood. These birds gather, sing, and enjoy the solar luminosity of the sunset.
Solar bird
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2020
A work representing a character that feeds on solar energy, recreated to depict elder beings who harness the energy of light for various healings.
Dance of the lunar bird
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2019
The artwork represents a grandmother bird. During the waxing moons, she performs nocturnal rituals to attain different levels of vision and the power of lunar energy. In the composition, I aim to depict Mayan geometry.
Bird of dreams
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2017
Dream birds sometimes fill and recreate themselves in multiple forms. A bird in a dream may represent talents, gifts, abundance, and future aspirations. This artwork is represented as the color and shapes of the traditional blouse (huipil) transformed into a bird.
Bird of time
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2017
The artwork represents the grandparents who guard time, who fly through time, nahuales of time. Many times, they manifest as birds of light in the sky, in dreams, in messages to guide and warn of future omens.
Girl with dragonflies
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2022
It is the representation of the initial phases of a nahual, which can take the form of birds or insects. In this case, the artwork depicts a girl trying to decipher the mystery of how her nahual begins to interact with her.
Ascent
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2023
It is a piece that represents a bird child who, within his dreams, ascends to seek and contemplate dimensional entities with his Chu’lel. Therefore, within this ascent, he immerses himself in wonder.
Nahual bird
Oil on paper
32.5 x 25 cm
2019
This artwork represents a Tuluk (turkey), a dancer that, in Mayan beliefs, arrives as an omen in certain families, sent by healer grandparents.
Wind bird
Óleo sobre papel
25 x 32.5 cm
2023
Es una representación del chu’lel que se presenta de manera exótica; aparece y desaparece. Es una de las aves preciosas, que no es común entre las localidades y pasa a ser un chu’lel de una deidad, un niño o niña que está en pleno desarrollo de su crecimiento espiritual.