KUTHO

  • Dates
    2019 - 2019
  • Author
  • Topics Daily Life, Social Issues, Fine Art
  • Locations Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, Thailand

KUTHO takes inspiration from a Burmese concept of Merit. The series talks about Power associated with Religion and the relationship between the visible / not visible, cult / occult.

KUTHO takes inspiration from a Burmese concept of merit. A common ritual undertaken by Burmese Buddhists is to cover their relics with gold leaves. Leaving a gold-mark is exclusive to male devotees for merit-making towards better karma. Women, in the guise of an impure status, are forbidden to approach. All over the kingdoms of Indochina, in a similar way, monks/nuns are other topics to see the place of women in religion nowadays. To go beyond persistent stereotypes I think that liberation of the soul is an endless work in progress.

I care about how an offering affirms the idea of the next life and empowers us by being used as a tool for that purpose. Gold and Religion have an ancient relationship.

The series talks about Power associated with Religion and the relationship between the visible / not visible, cult/occult, and parallels universes.

I use the same leaves to seal my memory with this gold light, which grace I can not access, and post a question about the duality of human nature, on those cultural orders that are such assimilated, that not seen.

Andrea Alkalay

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Landscape III (Landscape reflected on water. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Landscape III (Landscape reflected on water. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Cauliflower (Cauliflower with a bamboo hut. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Cauliflower (Cauliflower with a bamboo hut. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Offering (bananas, candle, money, flowers, an offering for Buddha. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Offering (bananas, candle, money, flowers, an offering for Buddha. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Blank (Vegetation over a blank signal by the river. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Blank (Vegetation over a blank signal by the river. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Bamboo Stupa (bamboo temporary structure covers the stupa for restoration.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Bamboo Stupa (bamboo temporary structure covers the stupa for restoration.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Buffalo ( buffalo lying on the grass by a creek. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Buffalo ( buffalo lying on the grass by a creek. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Fisherman ( fisherman standing on his canoe paddles with his foot. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Fisherman ( fisherman standing on his canoe paddles with his foot. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Scriptures (Holy writings from a pagoda wall with a blurred Buddha.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Scriptures (Holy writings from a pagoda wall with a blurred Buddha.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Image from the KUTHO photography project
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Kutho / Angkor Buddha (Pequeña estatua de Buda de piedra envuelta con tela, sobre una mesa de piedra dentro de las ruinas de Ankor Wat Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Landscape I (Landscape of Laos , mountains , river, skye. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Landscape I (Landscape of Laos , mountains , river, skye. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Heritage (silhouettes from old ruins remaining from palaces of Pagan kingdom. Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Heritage (silhouettes from old ruins remaining from palaces of Pagan kingdom. Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Tombstone ( Granite Tombstone with a bench seat in front .Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Tombstone ( Granite Tombstone with a bench seat in front .Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Faceless Buddha (Marble sitting Buddha statue with a blank face waiting to be carved.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Faceless Buddha (Marble sitting Buddha statue with a blank face waiting to be carved.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Gold bricks (Bricks from a pagoda with gold spots pasted on by the devotees.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Gold bricks (Bricks from a pagoda with gold spots pasted on by the devotees.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Image from the KUTHO photography project
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Kutho / Golden Rock (The Golden Rock Pagoda, one of the most important places of pilgrimage for Buddhists . Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Nun girl (Portrait of a nun school girl from Mandalay with her face painted with Thanaka paste.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Nun girl (Portrait of a nun school girl from Mandalay with her face painted with Thanaka paste.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Turban boy ( portrait of a muslim turban teenage boy from Battambang province of Cambodia.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Turban boy ( portrait of a muslim turban teenage boy from Battambang province of Cambodia.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Monk boy ( portrait of a monk school boy from Mandalay with her face painted with Thanaka paste.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Monk boy ( portrait of a monk school boy from Mandalay with her face painted with Thanaka paste.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / Portal ( Pagoda Gate , entrance carved in teca wood.Gold intervention )
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Kutho / Portal ( Pagoda Gate , entrance carved in teca wood.Gold intervention )

© andrea alkalay - Kutho / 95% ( 95% covered with gold 24 k photograph)
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Kutho / 95% ( 95% covered with gold 24 k photograph)