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Life knowledge or Kawsa Yachay in Quechua is the ancient, indigenous culture. As a decolonization activist act, we need to research the old ways through songs, filming, recording, oral traditions, rituals and interviews. And learning Quechua to communicate with 13 million people.(S.Wilson 2008)


The author thanks the Q’ero nation for their acceptance and hospitality during the summer of 1978. Cuzco. Peru
















Rebel Masks


Posted in THE DAILY HELLER

PRINTMAGAZINE

by Steven Heller

Posted August 9, 2017   1 min. read


Once an editorial illustrator and now a filmmaker, Carlos Llerena Aguirre has been documenting Saynatakuna, the masks and transfigurations in Paukartambo, in his native Peru. There is an eerie beauty to these celebratory masks and costumes for the Feast of the Virgen del Carmen, held every year from July 15–19 in Cuzco on the site where rebel uprisings held by Tupac Amaru were enacted against Spain’s colonial rule. Aguirre has captured on film what Angie Bonino calls the “complex mental process of the resistance identity created as a strategy in response to the Colonial context.” Her words appear in an essay in the documentary book that includes a DVD produced by the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo. She adds:

“The community under Spanish domination delved deep within themselves to define who ‘I am,’ as opposed to who ‘the other’ is, thus negotiating their possibilities for cultural representation with themselves and the invaders.”































The Instruments of Peruvian Andean Music
Llactak Taquin
By Carlos Llerena Aguirre.
Tamaqua. USA      

  















THE GRAPHIC WORKS OF CARLOS LLERENA AGUIRRE. TRAPECIO GALLERY. LIMA. PERU






Carlos Llerena Aguirre has published woodcuts in international journals, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, El Comercio, books, magazines, children’s books, and international newspapers. His woodcuts are in the Library of Congress Permanent Collection. Washington, DC, USA. Franz Masareel Centrum, Kasterlee, Belgium. Museo del Grabado Lima Peru, MAC Lima, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. Lima, Peru. Venice Printmaking Studio. Venice, Italy. Douro International Printmaking Biennale. Douro, Portugal.  Museo del Grabado, Instituto Peruano Norteamericano, Lima. Peru. Norwegian International Printmaking Biennale, Fredrikstad, Norway.

He represented Peru and the USA with his woodcuts in the Douro Printmaking Biennale, Douro, Portugal. Hilo South Pacific International Printmaking Biennale. Hawai. ICPNA 5th International Printmaking Biennale. Lima, Peru. Norsk Internasjonal Grafikk Biennale, Norway. The Jubilam X Internationale Grafik Triennale, Fredrikstad, Norway. Pacific States Biennial National Print Exhibition, Hawai. The Xylon Graphische International Triennale, Switzerland, La Bienal del Grabado de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, USA. The Krakow Biennale of Printmaking, Polonia. Biennale de Grabado. Arequipa, Peru.

He holds an MFA, in Cinematography from the University of Miami. An MFA, in painting, an M.Ed, in Art Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and an MA, in Printmaking from Hunter College. The City University of New York City. 

His video art and documentaries have been officially selected in international venues: FLAVIA[2,  Festival Latinoamericano de Videoarte, Buenos Aires, Argentina. TOLFA International Short Film Festival, Roma, Italia. Museo de Arte, Parana. (permanent collection) Argentina. Cortoacquario VI Festival Internazionale Cortometraggi, Juried documentary, Santa Marinella, Roma, Italia. Festival Internacional Cine Toluca, FICT  Mexico. Bideodromo. Naziateko Zine eta Bideo Esperimentalen Laialdia. Bilboko, Bereginen Museoa. 1er Festival Latinoamericano de Cortometrajes Ambientales. Albufera, Argentina. Optic Nerve XII, Film Festival. Juried exhibit. Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA, North Miami, FL. OMNI, Urban Intervention, Juried exhibit. Art Basel, Wynwood, FL. CLOSE UP. A Riesgo, Pasaguero, Juried exhibit. Video Projections, Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México. Ischia International Film Festival, Napoli, Italy.

The book/DVD Saynatakuna was published and exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima Peru. saynatakuna.com/
His latest feature ethnographic documentary is:
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Recipient of the Frans Masareel Centrum artist in residence in Belgium. The Venice Printmaking Studio in Venice. Italy and The TAKT artist residence in Frederikshain, East Berlin, Germany. Artist residence at the University of Liverpool. England.  and Distinguished Professor at Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.

He is currently a Professor at the University of Miami. USA

http://www.carlosllerena.com
https://vimeo.com/carlosllerenaaguirre