Created during the Covid-19 pandemic, the visual arts study group entitled Matilha, that means Pack, proposes, in its first exhibition, to reflect, from a multidisciplinary perspective, on the term that entitles the group from a multifaceted perspective, both in terms of techniques and approaches.
Each participant develops, in their skills, up to three works in order to better present their poetics about the proposed theme.
The meaning of “pack”, in dictionaries, points to a “set of dogs, generally used for hunting”.
However, in its figurative sense, it defines a “meeting of individuals exalted against someone” or even a “group of vagrants, of people without occupation or work”. On the Navy universe, the term defines a “group of submarines that carry out an attack together”.
If taken individually, each member of the pack, the dog, occupies different social positions according to different cultures. In Egyptian civilization, it was used both as a domestic and hunting animal. Its symbolism was mainly portrayed with the god Anubis, represented on the body of a human and the head of a jackal, being the dog responsible for guarding the sacred doors and guiding the dead to the spiritual world.
In the same line of reasoning, in the Greek mythology, responsible for many of the formation of Western culture, there is the Cerberus, the famous three-headed dog, which symbolizes protection and secret knowledge about death and resurrection, being responsible for guarding the passage that leads the dead to the spirits world.
In Central America, dogs also guide souls to the other side and, therefore, according to anthropological studies, their bodies were found buried with those of humans, and it is believed that they helped the newly dead cross a lake or river into the realm of the dead.
In summary, in these aspects, the symbolism of the dog represents a deep and wise knowledge of human life and the afterlife. However, in Islam, dogs are seen as unclean, unhygienic and evil; and Muslims avoid touching the dog, being closely associated with the idea of eating leftovers found in the garbage.
In the world of tattoo, dogs are often portrayed to indicate fidelity, love, loyalty and companionship. Therefore, thinking about the “pack” theme allows multiple inputs, all of them, in some way, visceral, as the theme is “on edge” of the group participants.
Oscar D’Ambrosio