Throughout history, religious rituals have relied on sacred objects as fundamental agents in the execution and preservation of these rites. These objects function to connect and/or dissolve the limits between the body and beliefs; between the terrestrial and the divine. This relationship between object and ritual transforms depending on the cultural values and belief systems in play at a given moment in history – some of which are more long-standing and transcendental than others, and all of which always involve some process of transformation.

The sacred object acts as a vehicle through which ritual is activated and the aforementioned transformation or improvement can occur. Thus, we can verify the dependency between affects and the objects that represent them. In other words, for many people, these objects carry an affective weight directly related to their symbolic value, which, in turn, make rituals possible.

As societies have become secularized, many rituals of strictly religious nature have disappeared, giving way to others that encompass the same spiritual notions and cover the same needs for those who practice them. Within contemporary Latin American culture, there are various rituals that most likely originate from pre-Colombian beliefs, and have been transformed as a result of Pagan and Catholic religious syncretism. For example, the passing of an uncooked chicken egg over the body of a child while reciting Our Father, or the custom of spilling the first drops of a beer onto the ground as a means of showing gratitude to Mother Earth. These days, the ritual melting pot has spread into the commercial realm, with new customs arising – like, practicing yoga to the beat of pop music, or consuming Ayahuasca as a means of detox. It is worth mentioning that all these contemporary daily rituals also include “objects of affect.”

Affect in the Sacred is an invitation to identify and reflect on objects that we consider sacred, question what role they have in our lives, who makes them, and how these objects influence our value system. Also, to ask ourselves when it is pertinent to question their origin, and at what moment they become tools used to define our identity.

From the 7th to the 13th of April 2020, Afecto will present our first exhibition program.