Affectionate Transcultural Architecture

This project is the result of an artistic residency in Chichicaste (Panajachel, Guatemala). Throughout a series of walks in the local towns and cities, the artist collects several similarities and differences between Latin American local cultures, vernacular architecture, and beliefs within the mythical and religious. He meets a local artist, Manuel Chavajay, that shares with him a stack of cardboard from his studio for this project. In a gesture of gratitude, where he wishes to return everything the artist took in during his stay, Alê Souto performs a ritual action to give back to the lake – to the mythical city that gave origin to mankind that is situated in the central part of Lake Atitlán – and also to return the favors to his fellow artist through the lake in a symbolic cultural exchange.