iMuseum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA)Junction Triangle
Delcy Morelos: Ombligo
A site-specific installation by Colombian artist Delcy Morelos: sisal rope, soil and Toronto-harvested corn roots swell from the ceiling of Floor 2.
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On Floor 2, long strands of sisal rope stretch and swell from the ceiling into the shape of a womb, lit by natural light. The rope is treated with soil and woven with corn roots from two local farms. So part of a local corn harvest now hangs from a ceiling on Sterling Road.
Ombligo is Spanish for navel, the earliest lifeline. Morelos, a Bogotá-based artist raised by her Emberá grandmother, mixed the earth with corn, tapioca and tobacco, which fed and healed people in the Americas before European contact, and blended its aromas herself. You take it in by smell as much as by sight.
It is a single site-specific work, not a room of objects. Adult entry is $14; under-18s and Indigenous visitors are free. Fridays run until 8pm, and the first Friday of each month is free from 5 to 9pm. On Saturday 31 October at 11am, artistic director Rui Mateus Amaral tours this show and Bharti Kher's Bones; register first.
Look for
The womb form
Look up: long strands of soil-treated sisal rope swell down from the ceiling and follow the contours of a womb, lit by natural light.
The Ontario corn roots
Corn roots from Crooked Farmz and Ratcliff Farms in Ontario are woven into the rope, alongside soil sourced in Toronto.
The scented earth
The earth is mixed with corn, tapioca and tobacco, and Morelos blended its aromas herself, so the work is meant to be smelled as well as seen.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Evening Visits
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Skip if
You avoid scented spaces: the earth holds tobacco and aromas the artist blended herself.
With kids
Under-18s get in free, and under-15s must be with an adult at all times. Flash and selfie sticks aren't allowed.
Also at Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA)
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Image credits
6
- Delcy Morelos: OmbligoPhoto: LF Documentation
- Rouzbeh Akhbari: Of Wool and DieselCourtesy of Mercer Union, a Centre for Contemporary Art
- body — mind — distanceCourtesy of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
- From the Laurentian Highlands to a Higher PlaceCourtesy of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
- Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA)Leventio / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Mercer Union, a Centre for Contemporary ArtWilliam Mewes (Flickr), CC BY 2.0