Cannupa Hanska Luger Creates Cave Installation In Curaçao

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Santa Fe-based artist Cannupa Hanska Luger unveiled a new site-specific installation on September 26 in Curaçao's Kueba di Indjan, a five million-year-old limestone cavern also known by tour guides as Kueba di Brua or“Voodoo Cave.” The installation, which engages with the cave's mystic history and rumored use for indigenous witchcraft, features unfired clay whistles.

Luger located a sunlit area within the cave and augmented existing vines with hand-woven ropes that cradle the clay whistles. He made these whistles during three workshops held the previous week. As a member of America's Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, Luger chose to leave the whistles unfired, allowing them to eventually return to the earth. His son contributed an ambient, site-specific musical composition that activated the installation during its public presentation, with bats reportedly flying past attendees, enhancing the cave's mystical atmosphere.

This work was created for the second edition of Novo Collective's Uncommissioned program, an experimental public art initiative that brought six new public artworks to Curaçao. Other contributions included stained glass by local artist Avantia Dahmberg, a performance by Nash Caldera, an environmentally integrated sculpture by Giovanni Abath, and a desert installation by Ailsa Anastatia.

Luger's practice often involves multiple artistic approaches. He described his latest project as his“wildest, most fast-paced yet,” transforming social engagement into sculpture within a week. Family collaboration is a consistent element in his art, as he explained,“We did a project last year for Desert X, where we transformed our family van into a fog drip system to gather moisture out of the air.” Luger noted that this new endeavor focuses on generosity, symbolized by the whistles, rather than extraction.

The artist elaborated on his process, stating,“My work is place-based. I consider the land my primary audience.” He used the whistle-making workshops as a way to connect with people from Curaçao, finding that“when people build with their hands, all the defense mechanisms fall off.” The project involved visiting cave painting sites with an archaeologist and harvesting local clay, though saline content led to the use of store-bought clay for workshops. Some processed local clay was ultimately used in the installation itself.

One workshop took place at Farm to Crafts, where banana stalks from the island are processed. Luger incorporated these fibers into the installation as a way to reuse waste materials. His wife, Ginger Dunnill, who is from Maui and grew up making Ti Leaf Leis, twisted the fibers into ropes, which became essential for the net and suspension of the whistles. This adaptability was crucial, as Luger said,“The net, the suspension, all of that stuff was not part of the original plan. We were just responding to the materials we had, the landscape we were in, the environment.”

Luger has intermittently built flutes for 15 years, noting the“dopamine rush” of transforming clay into a whistle. He discovered the local gogorobi, a similar-looking instrument made from calabash fruit, noting,“It was really cool to hear the shape that I was making in clay predated my being here, predated the Dutch being here.” He views the act of creating a sound-producing whistle as a counterbalance to a world that often“take[s] more than they give.”

Throughout the process, his wife and sons recorded sounds, building a sound bank for his son to use in compositions. His son created one composition for the initial installation day and a new one for the reception, both played across the cavern. Luger emphasized the spontaneous nature of the work, saying,“if something turns out exactly like I plan it, I feel like I've failed somehow.” He initially considered decorating the whistles with red clay slip, referencing cave paintings, but ultimately questioned his right to use such symbols without understanding their meaning. Instead, he used the slip to visually connect the whistles to the cave's stalactites and stalagmites, staining banana leaves and binding the clay vessels, symbolizing how“the land binds us.”

Source: Artnet News

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