Poligonal Nº5: The encounter sought to expand sensory representations of nature with an emphasis on sound

On Saturday, November 23, the fifth edition of Poligonal took place—a day of dialogues between artists, scientists, and researchers from various disciplines, along with sensory experiences aligned with this year’s Poligonal theme Crossing Imaginaries. More than 250 people attended this event, which sought to reconfigure representations of nature shaped by visions that separate the natural from the cultural. The goal was to stimulate curiosity through senses less explored than the visual.

The event was held at the Centro Cultural de España (CCE) in collaboration with the Futures of Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) nucleus. This year, the initiative focused on fostering expansive perspectives through the senses, emphasizing sound and the need to enhance active listening, while creating sensory experiences for all ages.

The first activity was organized by the CCE through the dialogue Sobremesa II: un gesto que cesa, which explored the intersections between technology and food sovereignty. It stemmed from an artistic residency by Estefanía Santiago in Chiloé, raising questions about the transformations in food production and biocultural memory due to automation and AI. These topics were analyzed alongside ecosocial researcher Adrián Almazán (University of Madrid) in a session moderated by cultural manager Ana Escariz Pérez.

Regarding this activity, the director of the CCE, Paula Palicio, highlighted the importance of “recontextualizing the work of this artistic residency through a dialogue on the relevance of bonds, gestures, and memory” in territories where technology is shaping new agro-food realities. She also valued the institution’s collaboration with FMA in hosting a free event accessible to diverse audiences.

The second block of Poligonal began with remarks by Maya Errázuriz, Director of Art and Publications at FMA, who emphasized the need to expand notions of nature and imaginaries that limit our understanding of the complex realities we inhabit. She underlined the potential of sound explorations to reveal relational landscapes.

Poligonal continued with Constelación Sonora by Yuri Tuma, a media artist and co-founder of the Institute for Postnatural Studies (IPNS). This activation was based on a speculative narrative about the so-called Academy of Silence, immersing the audience in a dichotomy of being the first or the last specimen of a species.

The session was followed by the dialogue Imaginar multinaturalismos, which brought together perspectives on post-nature, biocultural memory, and desert forests, among other topics. Participants included artist and researcher Gabriel Alonso (Institute for Postnatural Studies), ecologist and environmental anthropologist Tomás Ibarra (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile), and anthropologist specializing in socio-environmental conflicts in fragile ecosystems, Consuelo Biskupovic (Núcleo AFOREST), moderated by communicator Carolina Delpiano.

This discussion transported the audience to southern forests through Ibarra’s studies, which explore the relational networks of socioecosystems and the significance of biocultural memory. He also discussed the hopeful potential of addressing phenomena like the extinction of experience—a concept highlighting the diminishing contact between children and the natural world.

Alonso provided insights into imaginative and empathetic possibilities through the concept of post-nature, emphasizing art as a bridge for knowledge and reconfiguring our relationship with the environment in the face of modern inherited thinking that separates humans from nature. Meanwhile, Biskupovic transported participants to the arid north of Chile, describing the unique features of desert forests and debunking the myth of lifelessness in arid regions. She also addressed the looming extinction of species like the algarrobo and tamarugo, representatives of intricate forests in areas such as Pampa del Tamarugal, the Loa, and the Atacama salt flats.

An Experimental Lab, Sound Archives, and Diverse Garden Flavors

Parallel to the afternoon dialogue, two cycles of the laboratorio experimental intergeneracional took place. This session was organized by FMA’s learning team in collaboration with Patricia Jaramillo, Director of Early Childhood Education at Alberto Hurtado University (UAH). Jaramillo contributed by facilitating sensory and bodily interactions in a nature-themed experience set in an urban context.

Through this, children, youth, and adults experimented with scents, audiovisual projections, and playful imagery, exploring diverse landscapes through the senses. Observation, play, movement, and artistic creation with clay were part of the activities led by the learning team and the arts team’s installations.

After the lab, participants experienced the sound archive Pitxantu, a performance by Mapuche artist Eli Wewentxu. This work featured recordings of the forest in the Wallmapu territory—specifically, Chomio Mapu—collected over two years. The artist described it as a piece of political-sentimental memory that reclaims the territorial struggles of the Mapuche people.

Poligonal concluded with a culinary experience titled Hambre Chimera, led by the gastronomic project Sigue la Corriente, created by María Apparcel, alongside El Borde and La Cooka, dedicated to gardening and agroecology. The event also featured Pampi Vela, who created a mural inspired by the day’s foods; KoKo Clay, who crafted clay pieces aligned with the event’s theme; and musicalization by SONDA. The culinary space sought to harmonize the season’s produce with urban life. Additionally, an editorial station was set up with Alma Negra Librería- Platform and Editorial, Cthulhu Books, Endémico, Libro Verde, and Saposcat, as well as publications by FMA.