Wednesday, October 26, 2022. – "Imaginaries of Salt" is the name of the exhibition directed by architect Malé Uribe, with more than 900 works of art and R+D design manufactured from salts generated in the lithium production process in the Salar de Atacama. It is the first time that this type of recycling has been carried out in the country, through which it seeks to invite to rethink the value of this important mineral, showing that the circular economy in mining can also be an action of art.
Imaginaries Of Salt Project Transforms Lithium By-Products into Art
The project was carried out thanks to the support of Albemarle, one of the largest lithium producers in the world and present in Chile for more than 40 years, and also had the support of the Advanced Technological Laboratory for Mining (DICTUC) of the PUC School of Engineering, and was developed in a first stage together with the Design Museum in London. England.
"We seek to resignify minerals processed by the mining industry to build new narratives around our geological resources, making their historical processes and uses known. Establishing this collaboration with Albemarle has been a giant step because it means that we can open future routes together and there is a very great potential," said the artist Malé Uribe.
What did the process consist of? The lithium produced at the Salar de Albemarle plant is produced concentrated thanks to a natural evaporation process of brine, which is 10 times saltier than seawater. In this cycle, which lasts 18 months, they precipitate a series of salts that have other uses. For example, bischophyte is used as a stabilizer and dust suppressant on dirt roads.
However, the artist's innovative look gives it a new use, as works of art, but also with the potential to generate construction and design material. These salts are the ones that were used by the architect Malé Uribe and the PUC to manufacture the pieces exhibited in the exhibition.
"For Albemarle it is very important to make this type of strategic alliance, since it allows us to show more people the value of lithium and everything that can be achieved from the products we obtain from our operation, also supporting the culture and art of Chile. In this way, we bring the sustainable lithium production process and the by-products that are used as dust suppressants and road stabilizers closer to the community, significantly reducing the use of fresh water in this application as a concrete example of circular economy," said Ignacio Mehech, Vice President of External Affairs and Country Manager of Albemarle Chile
Among the works present in the exhibition, there is a 3.5-meter-long mural composed of salt extracted after the natural evaporation process of brine to which the mineral is subjected.
"The intention is to create a sense of order, of geometric alignments that contrasts with the unexpected ways in which salt crystallizes in the territory and with the chaotic perceptions that are usually associated with tailings and mining waste," Malé Uribe explained. He added that "we want to get out of the temporary museum and be able to propose facilities for the Antofagasta Airport, the Plaza de San Pedro and places where the community itself can look at these salts, touch them, live with them and understand salt as a construction material."
The exhibition is open to the public until January 30, 2023, at the Pereira Palace, Santiago. Those who wish to obtain more information about schedules and guided tours, can enter @estudio.male's Instagram and also learn more about the production of sustainable lithium in www.albemarlelitio.cl .
Photographs by Francisco Ibáñez: Check out the photo gallery here