CENTRO PECCI exhibitions

Mvaḥ Cha is a nucleus of bronze sculptures created by Namsal Siedlecki (Greenfield, USA, 1986) in 2019 during a period of residence in Kathmandu. Here, in some of the main local foundries, the artist had the opportunity to experiment with the lost-wax casting technique. If in Europe the wax model is covered with shredded brick and plaster, in Nepal a compound called Mvaḥ Cha is used, obtained with clay, cow dung, and chaff, the shell of rice grains. The compound, usually destroyed to complete the casting process, hides the original form, and Siedlecki transforms it into a piece of art, in a reversal of the functions. Indefinite sculptures, forms endowed with a strong and primitive expressiveness, free from precise anatomical references, which maintain a subtle relationship with Hindu and Buddhist religious iconography, these works create a dialogue between past and present, between East and West, underlining how fascination for the unknown and the spiritual, has always accompanied human being.

The work was created thanks to the support of the Italian Council (6th Edition, 2019), a program of the General Direction for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and for Tourism, and it has become part of the collection of the Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci di Prato.

OPENING HOURS: THURSDAY TO SUNDAY, 4PM TO 8PM