La selva inexistente: an artist’s book that pays homage to The Vortex
Researcher Elena Traina and the Makerspace Editorial research group commemorate 100 years of José Eustasio Rivera’s novel
Makerspace Editorial, the research and creation group attached to the Creative Writing programme at the Universidad Central, launched the artist’s book La selva inexistente (The Non-Existent Jungle) on 8 June at the Fondo de Cultura Económica. The work is a compilation of materials centred on The Vortex, the novel by the Colombian author José Eustasio Rivera.
The idea for this project emerged after a visit by Elena Traina, a researcher and writer based in the UK, who came to the Universidad Central last April during her doctoral research in Creative Writing. Through interviews and conversations with various lecturers on the programme, she learnt about the work of Makerspace Editorial.
As she explored the group’s editorial outputs and ongoing projects, the researcher proposed creating a poetry collection she had been developing during her residency in Colombia, focused on a deep and active reading of Rivera’s work.
The research group took the idea further and, with the support of Macedonio Editores—a collective made up of current students and graduates of the Creative Writing programme—proposed something beyond a poetry collection: an artisanal publication that would bring together literary material, photographic records from different parts of the country, and a set of souvenirs also made by Elena, allowing them all to meet and converse, just as she does with Rivera’s novel.
Craftsmanship is central to La selva inexistente, from the binding itself to the objects that accompany the poetry collection.
A work made by many hands
This artist’s book features a poetry collection which weaves the author’s words together with lines from The Vortex; 39 postcards with handwritten captions by the author; a letter from Elena addressed to one of the novel’s characters that creates a playful metaliterary effect; and three handmade items produced with help from the research group: a worry doll, a tea sachet and a coin, all of which engage in dialogue with the poems and narrative texts. Everything is contained in a box which, when viewed from the inside, is itself a map of Bogotá.
Of all the projects developed by Makerspace Editorial, La selva inexistente is one of those that has most fully enabled the exploration of a range of editorial techniques, both literary and artistic. It draws on hand-binding, linocut engraving, postcards, multi-ink printing to distinguish Traina’s words from Rivera’s—even when they form part of a single text—as well as work with die-cuts, textures and stamps.
“The result fills us with joy, satisfaction and gratitude to Elena for entrusting us with the realisation of a project that began as something personal but which, after all the work put in by the team, we hope to put into circulation very soon,” members of Makerspace Editorial said.
One of the first copies of this book-object can be found in the group’s workspace, available to anyone who wishes to enjoy it. It stands as a beautiful tribute marking the centenary of the publication of Rivera’s novel.
Semillero Makerspace Editorial
Programa de Creación Literaria
Escuela de Artes
Bogotá, D. C., 7 July 2024
Original article (Spanish): https://www.ucentral.edu.co/noticentral/selva-inexistente-objeto-libro-rinde-homenaje-voragine
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