In the vibrant Chilean literary scene, a new proposal emerges from the south, specifically from the Williche ancestral territory of Ainileufu. Blood Performanceby the writer and artist Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, promises to leave a deep mark on its readers. The novel is a powerful exploration of identity and resistance, told from the perspective of a trans and Mapuche Williche protagonist, whose unique poetics unravels the complexities of a body that resists and reconfigures its environment.
About the novel
The project that began writing in 2019 is published through an alliance between Tinta Negra Microeditorial (Valdivia) and Editorial Little Wild (Temuco), Blood Performance addresses a time convulsed by protests and state repression, where the memory of a country in resistance is constantly under siege. The protagonist, a Williche Mapuche trans woman who survives in Valdivia, lives her days between art, techno parties and self-discovery, while going through her first year of hormone replacement therapy.
The story addresses the precariousness he faces when working in artistic spaces, while dealing with the presence of an alleged police officer infiltrated into his circle. This figure becomes a vital enigma for the protagonist, who, motivated by an event from her rural childhood, seeks an emotional and physical connection with him. The novel explores themes of great social relevance, such as police surveillance, job insecurity and the constant state of personal revolution of its protagonist. Danger, desire, and the struggle for self-affirmation are intertwined in a narrative that challenges both the reader and the power structures.
Blood Performance It invites a deep reflection on identity, belonging and resistance, through the history of a body that, through its blood, reconfigures the territory it inhabits. The contemporary Mapuche perspective, intertwined with the trans experience, gives rise to a work that questions both the reader about their own body and the society in which they live. In the author’s words: «This book seeks to give space to a voice that, through the insistence of its body generating a memory exercise, finds in its blood a new way of inhabiting the world, questioning its past and its origin, to enhance all the voices that They inhabit the history of blood in Abya Yala, whether thinking about the colonial wound and its effects, drugs, HIV, social stigmas, medication consumption and the supposed diseases that threaten the protagonist. “The novel revolves around multiple links of bodies, through fluids like blood, under the violent thread that has sewn the wounds of nations”.
Official launch
The launch of Blood Performance will be done next October 11 at the Gato Caulle Bookstore, located at Yungay 768, Valdivia, at 6:30 p.m.. The event, organized in collaboration between the regions of Los Ríos and La Araucanía, will be an excellent opportunity to learn about Vargas Huaiquimilla’s creative process and the impact he seeks to generate with this work. The book will be presented by the writer and activist Rodrigo Ortega, accompanied by the editors. A cordial invitation is extended to the public and media interested in conducting interviews and consultations.
About the author
Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, resident in Valdivia, is a prominent writer, visual artist and performer, in charge of communications at the Barrios Bajos Gallery. His work explores the intersections between contemporary Mapuche culture and global artistic languages.
Author of the books Factory (2016) y The age of the trees (2017), has participated in various poetry anthologies and has been awarded the First Honorable Mention in the Public Art category of the 24th Municipal Young Art Award (2024) and the 2017 Art and Culture Award of the Los Lagos Region. Vargas Huaiquimilla has received scholarships for literary creation from the Ministry of Cultures, and his work, both literary and visual, has an international presence covering Latin America, the United States and European countries.
Sale and contact
Blood Performance It is available for national and international shipments through tumbanegramicroeditorial@gmail.com or on Instagram (@tintanegramicroeditorial), with an introductory price of $13,000. For more information on national presentations and press inquiries, interested parties can contact:
Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla & Team
Mail: kutralvargashuaiquimilla@gmail.com / ksurcomunicaciones@gmail.com
Photographs by the artist: Fabiola Pontigo.
Invitation and cover design posters: Estela Morales.
