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. Religion and spirituality are two sides of the same coin that sometimes play antagonistic roles. 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 a 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 to Religion and the relationship between the visible / not visible, cult/occult, and parallels universes. I use the same leaves to seal my memory with the 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. These interventions are aimed at interrupting expectations and expanding our interactions with the photograph and it's meaning.

© Andrea Alkalay