Erik Beltrán (Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico, 1974)
The World Explained: A Microhistorical Encyclopedia
Amsterdam: Roma Publications / Tropenmuseum, 2012
272 p.
19 x 26.6 cm
800 ex.
ISBN 978 90 77459 80 5
THE WORLD EXPLAINED
A MICROHISTORICAL
ENCYCLOPAEDIA
CONTAINING:
A collection of PRECISE DESCRIPTIONS.
with detailed pictures and diagrammes
of the WORLD in all its FACETS.
all based on
An UNSPECIALISED view
On Every Area of
HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.
This UNIVERSAL archive,
is a COMPILATION of
Testimonies and Observations, obtained
by means of questions about general interests
Regarding social,
COMMERCIAL, MORAL AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS.
In its Totality the Publication can be Read as an Index of People’s Current Understanding of the World.
Composed of diverse interviews, recordings and transcriptions, held in São Paulo, August-October MMVIII, Barcelona, August-October MMIX, Amsterdam, September MMXI-March MMXII.
Divided over three exhibition projects taken place in Sao Paulo, Barcelona, and Amsterdam, Beltrán interviewed a large number of people and collected a variety of personal theories on all kind of subjects. He drew his inspiration from microhistory, a genre in cultural history that focuses on personal stories and apparently minor events, sketching a picture of a culture or mentality of a particular period. ‘Our view of the world is determined not just by what we have learned about the world or even what we have actually experienced,’ Beltrán explains. ‘It consists to a large extent of suspicions, makeshift connections and personal interpretations.’ With an introduction by Anke Bangma. Design: Erick Beltrán with Gabrielle Pauty and Roger Willems.
