Parafernalia, 2024

In Parafernalia Maria Fernanda Ordoñez Pinzon devises a liminal space where the experiences of a migrant journey and the learning of an unknown language are negotiated. The title means as much as “circumstances” or “knick-knacks” and refers to the personal belongings the protagonist carries with her. Wooden boxes serve as stage-like platforms and containers for material reminders of the past. Ordoñez brings them to life by means of puppetry, actions reminiscent of rituals, spoken stories, and projected fragments of text: How do we move on unstable ground? What gives us support and stability? The journey leads across water and through fantastic landscapes where characters appear as companions and wise people. Discomfort, states of confusion and lostness as well as euphoria and cathartic moments mesh into a whole in this tragicomic spectacle.