Artist Statement

Other Realities sub-programme

Chakana (“to cross” or “crossing” in Quéchua) is a sound work by the South American sound artist Ernesto Coba Antequera. It consists of manipulated field-recordings of environmental sonic matter recorded on location in South Africa at the Mmabolela Reserve in Limpopo. The piece is inspired by the Southern Cross constellation, which can only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere. It is said that the Southern Cross was called Chakana by the Incas and other old cultures of the Andes and according to them it was the centre of the Universe and the bridge between spiritual and material worlds. It had, and still has, a considerable meaning to indigenous groups in South-America as well as in Southern Africa and Oceania.

• Ernesto Coba Antequera, born in 1976 in Barranquilla/ Colombia, is a multifaceted artist, musician and sound designer. He studied visual arts (emphasis in audiovisuals), audio engineering and transdisciplinarity in the arts. His works include numerous music compositions, multimedia installations and sound design for diverse artistic forms. He’s mainly interested in electronic arts and media (both analog and digital) and works with diverse hardware and software. Nature, cities, noise and silence are specially relevant for him as sources of inspiration. The goal in his work is to achieve an equilibrium between intellect and emotion. He currently lives and works in Zurich.