Fuerte Quebracho
Site-specific installation by artist María Elena Pombo at an abandoned structure at Fort Tilden, a former U.S. military site on the Atlantic coast.
It uses deadstock silk dyed with quebracho fuerte, a tree native to the Gran Chaco region of South America once employed in leather tanning for military gear.
The work plays on fuerte’s double meaning, fort and strength, asking which forms of strength endure and which histories remain.
Fuerte Quebracho was inaugurated during New York Textile Month with an activation in collaboration with gmtc featuring a sound performance by Isaac Silber and a quebracho water distribution by Fragmentario.
Developed with a Queens Arts Fund Grant.
Photos by Andrés Altamirano unless otherwise noted.
Videos by Maco Díaz.
Posters by María Elena Pombo.
Fuerte Quebracho
Fuerte Quebracho is a site-specific installation made by artist María Elena Pombo at an abandoned structure at Fort Tilden, a former U.S. military site on the Atlantic coast. It uses deadstock silk dyed with quebracho fuerte, a tree native to the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia.
Like the ocean at Fort Tilden, the tree’s history is entangled with histories of war. Once employed in leather tanning for military gear, its production was dominated by the Argentina-based British company La Forestal. During the Cold War, competing powers raced to secure it as part of the global contest for strategic raw materials.
The work plays on fuerte’s double meaning, fort and strength, asking which forms of strength endure and which histories remain.
Fuerte Quebracho is made possible with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.
Fuerte Quebracho Activation In collaboration with gmtc
Fuerte Quebracho was inaugurated with a an activation in collaboration with performance research laboratory gmtc as part of New York Textile Month that included:
Sound Performance by Isaac Silber
Fuerte Quebracho Water Distribution by Fragmentario
Quebracho Fuerte Water Distribution with Fragmentario (María Elena Pombo)
Before the accidental invention of synthetic dyes in 1856, all cultures across the world used plants to dye their textiles. Among these plants the Quebracho Rojo tree stands out for its vibrant hue and its bellic history.
In this happening, each participant received a zine, silk organza, and a glass jar to fill with quebracho rojo water.
María Elena Pombo is a Venezuelan artist based in NYC. Since 2016 she has designed and taught classes on natural dyes through a decolonial and non-extractivist lens in cultural centers, botanical gardens, film festivals, nightclubs, and more, across the USA, Europe and Japan.
Sound Performance by Isaac Silber
Isaac Silber’s sound performance activated Fort Tilden’s Atlantic water as a resonant speaker, incorporating radio reception, fm transmission, and hydrophonic listening amplified via transduction through a tank of water tinted with Quebracho natural dye.
Silber improvised with this site specific sound system as a practice of environmental attunement - leaning into resonant frequencies, building dissonances and harmonies of feedback, weaving rhythmic interventions into the folds of these kaleidoscopic textures.
In dyeing the amplified water with Quebracho Fuerte, the performance will allow for an exploration of the sonic dimensions of the dye permeating the site of Pombo’s intervention.
Participants helped collect water from the ocean nearby to add to the resonant tank in the beginning of the performance, and took a vessel of dyed water home with them at the end.
Algarrobo Snacks
Algarrobo snacks, made inspired by local Chaco region algarrobo snacks were offered during the activation.
Algarrobo Sourdough, Algarrobo Cookies, and Algarrobo Chicha made by Alya Yersu Toraman.
Photo by Silvana Trevale.
Photos below by Silvana Trevale
Many hands helped help made this project.
Thank you:
Alya Yersu Toraman, Ben Brill, Haden James, Mira Becker, Amelia Addicot, MACO Díaz for ironing and rolling into tubes over 100m of quebracho dyed silk
Mira Becker, Amelia Addicot, Tessa Fonstad, Sophia Rocco for organizing the fabrics into jars for people to take quebracho water + cutting, folding, stapling the zines
Dario Far, Georgeanna Ortiz, Juan Jose Cielo, Mira Becker, Lydia Ortiz, Ben Brill, Gabriela Saade for driving/guiar people around to help get to this far off location.
