Nutritive Aesthetics: Knitting Gardens of Hope in Contemporary Latin America

Gisela Heffes

Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

A tissue, in Spanish tejido, is defined as a set of cells that form a structural part of a living thing. A tejido is also a material fabric that involves careful and artisanal work. Blankets are woven objects that warm us up in the cold in the same way that stories are woven experiences that immerse us in others. Woven stories not only bind multiple stitches but also link together perceptions, feelings, and memories. Often, the fabric of shared experiences is crucial in creating a sense of belonging and unity. In this talk, I will focus on various tejido practices (material, experimental, visual, and lyrical) that propose an aesthetic that nurtures spaces of collective solidarity. These practices aim not only to repair but also to restore and connect an ancestral past with a polluted present by weaving a fabric that assembles the human with the non-human, the organic with the inorganic. Rather than subjection, the practice of tejido plots against hegemonic toxic narratives to facilitate a communal space of caring while ensuring a mesh of solidarity and continuity across multiple species.