The biobibliographical exhibition “Los reinos de Eielson” is being held to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the great Peruvian poet and artist.

Jorge Eduardo Eielson Sánchez, who was born in Lima on 13 April 1924 and died in Milan on 8 March 2006, was the son of an American father (of Norwegian origin) and a Peruvian mother. His multifaceted work has been evident since his adolescence, including literary creation (poetry, novels, plays, essays, journalistic articles) as well as the visual arts (painting, sculpture, installation, photography).

Two spirits coexist in Eielson: one restless, elusive, fugitive, who entrusts his protean vocation to written language; the other serene, vibrant, enlightened, who uses plastic forms to project the ineffable convergence of all things in a transcendent and personal centre. It is possible that both spirits depend on the two cultures that have formed him: the European, which feels and assimilates the experimental temptation, once learned from the second avant-gardes; and the Eastern, which he has known, studied, and practised through Zen Buddhism, above all through the teachings of his master Taisen Deshimaru.

The biobibliographical exhibition, curated by the poet and translator Renato Sandoval Bacigalupo – who was a friend of the artist – offers the public a journey through the life and work of Jorge Eielson based on his work as a writer and artist. “Los reinos de Eielson” will be open to the public until 14 August 2024.

Conversatory

As part of the opening of the biobibliographical exhibition, a conversatory will be held with the participation of Guillermo Niño de Guzmán, Carlos Runcie Tanaka, Renato Sandoval and Hernando Torres-Fernández, who will give a portrait of the extraordinary artist, having known and dealt with him personally at various times in his life.

His early multi-faceted nature and his vocation for exploration in his creative work led Eielson to establish an unprecedented dialogue with some aspects of Peruvian pre-Columbian culture, and to reinterpret a very ancient Andean invention – the quipu – which is why he can be considered one of the precursors of conceptual art in this region. His intellectual curiosity led him to take an interest in a wide range of knowledge, from science and archaeology to music and Buddhism. His plastic and literary production went from the initial influence of the avant-garde to the forms associated with American Pop Art, Italian Arte povera and other aesthetics of the time.

Guillermo Niño de Guzmán studied literature at the Catholic University. He has worked in journalism, publishing, literary translation, as well as writing film and television scripts and hosting jazz radio programs. He has published Caballos de medianoche (Midnight Horses) (1984), Una mujer no hace un verano (A woman does not make a summer) (1995) and Algo que nunca serás (Something that you will never be) (2007). He has ventured in the juvenile genre with the historical novel La conquista de los sueños (The conquest of dreams) (2007) and the fantastic story La caza de la mujer jaguar (The hunt for the jaguar woman) (2011). His literary articles were collected in La búsqueda del placer (The search for pleasure) (1996) and Relámpagos sobre el agua (Lightning over water) (1999).

Carlos Runcie Tanaka studied philosophy at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and ceramics in Brazil, Italy, and Japan. He has had solo and group exhibitions representing Peru at the Havana Biennial (1989 and 1994); I Ibero-American Biennial of Lima (1997); Forty-ninth Venice Biennial (2001); Eighth Cuenca Biennial and Twenty-sixth São Paulo Biennial (2004); First Triennial of Chile (2009) and Twelfth Havana Biennial (2015). His work is in public and private collections. He is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC – AIC).

Renato Sandoval is a poet, translator, essayist, editor, and university lecturer. He holds a PhD in Romance philology from the University of Helsinki. He was awarded the 2019 National Prize for Literature by the Ministry of Culture of Peru, with special mention in poetry. He is founder and director of the Lima International Poetry Festival (FipLima).