CAPAS at the Metropolink Festival 2022
In summer 2022, street artist Edgar Flores (SANER) from Mexico City created both a mural at the Julius-Springer-Schule in Heidelberg and a collection of prints titled: “Tetzahuitl. Post-Apocalyptic Visions of the 12th Book.” It was part of the art and science cooperation between the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) at Heidelberg University with the Metropolink Festival for Urban Arts.
The artwork refers to eight omens of the Nahua culture that were part of their story of the destruction of the pre-colonial world of the Mexica in Mesoamerica. These omens are mentioned in the twelfth book of the volume “Historia general de las Cosas de la Nueva España”, a comprehensive encyclopedia of the Nahua culture. Based on illustrations and exchanges with Mexica representatives, Franciscan priest Bernardino de Sahagún wrote the first version in Nahuatl and Spanish, probably between 1545 and 1551. From this first manuscript, later versions of the text were derived, forming the well-known “Florentine Codex” and the “Codex Matritense”.
The entire work of the “Historia general de las Cosas de la Nueva España” was written under the influence of Franciscan monks and under the impact of the Conquista, it makes it a post-apocalyptic product. Fundamental to the artistic work in Heidelberg was the research project of the art historian and anthropologist Prof. Dr. Adolfo Mantilla Osornio, a fellow at CAPAS in the academic year 2021/2022.
CAPAS also participated in the wider programme on the festival grounds of the Metropolink Festival 2022 with numerous contributions that facilitated a diverse exchange between art, science and the public. Activities included an open-air film event, discussions in workshops with the CAPAS Fellows, a children's book reading and an interactive art installation. In the art installation, visitors could leave their thoughts on the apocalypse with notes.
