Oleñka Carrasco’s book Patria is a moving account of a bereavement, of the questions of identity that it raises in the more general context of the history of Venezuela and its exiles. As the pages turn, the intimate, family circle of Oleñka’s work widens towards a universal theme that touches each of us: exile, belonging to a homeland, to a land.
The work, which mixes writing and visual art, is conceived in two parts.
From the figure of the father, or “pater” in chapter 1, Oleñka leads us to that of the fatherland, or “patria” in chapter 2. From a personal family history, the artist touches on a great collective and human history, that of the inalienable belonging to the clan and the country that saw us born.
