From Mexico to Dumfries: Totem pole completes 5,500 mile voyage
- Published
The artwork will be "returned to the Earth" in Dumfries after its journey from Mexico
A specially-commissioned totem pole has completed a 5,500 mile voyage from Mexico to southern Scotland.
The Totem Latamat was carved by Jun Tiburcio in Chumatlán, Veracruz, from a single tree.
It has travelled throughout Britain - including a visit to Glasgow during COP26 - to highlight the climate change concerns of indigenous peoples.
It will now be "returned to the Earth" in a ceremony on the Crichton estate in Dumfries at the weekend.
Jun Tiburcio carved the piece from a single tree
The piece was commissioned by the Border Crossings' ORIGINS Festival - celebrating indigenous art - as a response to climate change.
It was carved by Totonac artist Mr Tiburcio before being brought to the UK.
The totem has been described as a "message from the Totanac people to our communities and world leaders".
It aims to highlight how "deeply interwoven our existence is with nature" alongside the "need for immediate action to disrupt the damage done by climate change".
The journey from Mexico was made to highlight climate change concerns
After arriving in Britain the Totem Latamat has gone on tour around the country
"It has visited locations and communities as diverse as London's Chiswick House, Station Square in Milton Keynes, Hexham Abbey, Manchester University and the megalithic Rollright stone circle in Oxfordshire," said Border Crossings' artistic director Michael Walling.
"Everywhere it has been, Totem Latamat has been welcomed with songs and ceremonies, movingly showing the spirit of global solidarity between our own communities and the indigenous people who stand on the front line of climate change.
"Jun Tiburcio's own house was largely destroyed by Hurricane Grace during the period of the project: a direct result of the global temperature rise."
The piece has gone on display in a variety of locations
Now that it has delivered its message, it will be "returned to the Earth" on Saturday - and allowed to naturally decompose - in Dumfries and Galloway.
Ahead of that, there will be a discussion of its journey available online and in-person at the Crichton site on Friday evening., external
"Unlike Western materialist cultures, which seek to preserve their artworks as a way to attract monetary value, indigenous cultures regard their artefacts as beings with life, and therefore perishable," explained Mr Walling.
"That is why Totem Latamat, having done what it needed to, will this weekend be returned to the Earth with gratitude.
"Because it is made of natural materials, its decay will enrich the planet.
"The Crichton Estate in Dumfries is the perfect place for this to happen - a focus for education and community with a history of healing and a strong ecological agenda, it offers the totem a fitting final place of rest."
A ceremony near the Crichton Church will mark the end of Totem Latamat's journey
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