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| "Uruguay, Cerro Largo, La Invernada Ranch" by Uruguayan photographer Luis Fabini shows the country's nomadic horsemen culture. Fabini's works are currently on exhibit in Seoul at the KF Gallery in collaboration with the Embassy of Uruguay to Korea. Courtesy of the artist and MAPI |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Uruguay is the smallest country in South America, but it has a lot to offer including its gaucho culture, which refers to nomadic horsemen of the country.
The Korea Foundation (KF) Gallery in central Seoul hosts "Gauchos," an exhibition introducing the country's nature and culture through Uruguayan photographer Luis Fabini's works in cooperation with the Uruguayan Embassy to Korea.
In the Seoul exhibit, Fabini presents 33 black-and-white platinum palladium prints as well as eight color photographs on Japanese "awagami" paper. Museo de Arte Precolombino e Indigena (Museum of Pre-Columbian and Indigenous Art), an ethnographic museum in Uruguay, loaned Fabini's photos to the KF Gallery.
"We wanted, through these photographs, to be able to show a little of Uruguay's cultural roots. (Fabini's) photographs are a result of intense work, to capture the essence of gaucho's lifestyle. In contrast to contemporary society, in which rapid consumption reigns supreme, Fabini's photographs reveal gaucho's simple and proud approach to life as they preserve the traditions of the land where they were born and raised," said Stefany Romero Veiga, charge d'affaires ad interim of the Uruguayan Embassy in Seoul.
"Personally, I cannot help but feel touched by these photographs. I was born and raised in Uruguay's countryside and I should say that, when I first saw these images, I could recognize much of the imagery. Of course, one must not think that everyone in Uruguay's countryside is a gaucho or has a gaucho lifestyle, as it can't be further from the truth, in fact, gauchos are a minority. However, what I am trying to express here is that their lifestyle has permeated to society as a whole, and with its shades, many of its idiosyncrasies remain in force to this day. For instance, how we cook beef, how we enjoy lighting a fire and share a meal in the open air and the communion with horses."
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| Installation view of the "Gauchos" exhibition at the KF Gallery in central Seoul / Courtesy of Korea Foundation |
Fabini has a great interest in the horse-based cultures throughout the American continent from the chagra of Ecuador and the huaso from Chile to the charro of Mexico and the cowboy of North America, but the Uruguayan gaucho is the root of his inspiration.
As he believes that photography is an art of "95 percent sweat and 5 percent inspiration," Fabini lived with gauchos for a few months to fully understand their simple yet ordered way of life.
"In my experience, gauchos do not exclude or ignore you. On the contrary, they are curious and hospitable. Nevertheless, there is something about them that for the rest of us will always remain elusive, not wholly graspable, an insuperable distance. My photographs capture this distance, and respect it," Fabini said in an artist's note.
The artist once asked an old gaucho "What is the gaucho?" and the old man replied after a long silence, "The gaucho is the ground he treads upon."
"I understood instantly: a man grows to resemble what he does. He becomes one with what he does. I realized then that what he said was equally true of me. I went in search of the gaucho and without intending to I found myself," Fabini said.
Fabini clearly states that his photos are not documentaries, but reflect his intentions.
"I do not aim to tell a story; the story tells itself in the end. What I look forward to is that every photo I make tells its own story that is iconic," he said.
The photos show the lifestyle of gauchos as well as their relationship with horses. Fabini included in the title the place name and region where he took each photo, giving the images a deeper sense of reality. For instance, an iconic photo capturing a moment when a gaucho throws a lasso to geld a colt is titled "Uruguay, Cerro Largo, La Invernada Ranch."
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| "Uruguay, Montevideo, Prado Rodeo. Toro Castillos, rodeo performance judge" by Luis Fabini / Courtesy of the artist and MAPI |
Park Shin-young, curator of the KF Gallery, said Fabini's "Gaucho" series suits the gallery's purpose of introducing the world's cultures to Koreans.
"South America is half a world away and Uruguay is best known in Korea through the Uruguay Round (multilateral trade negotiations). This exhibit sheds light on the culture, heritage and daily life of the Uruguayan people living on the other side of the Earth," Park said.
"The color photographs are displayed without frames to better show the unique texture of the awagami paper. The texture emphasizes the contrasting colors of sky and earth and trees and clouds and the grainy cloud of dust behind the horses," Park said. "We do offer a VR version of the exhibition, but I hope more visitors will come to see the true texture of these photos."
The exhibit runs through Dec. 17.
