Confraternity of Our Lady Santa Baldana
Drawing from the work Santa Baldana, the Confraternity of Our Lady Saint Baldana (CSSB) emerges as a collective structure that expands and transforms the symbolic universe initiated by The Procession of Santa Baldana. More than a theatrical replica, the confraternity proposes a symbolic space where the devotional, the performative, and the communal intersect—giving rise to new forms of encounter, meaning, and belonging.
The project's digital environment, available at santabaldana.com, serves as a virtual platform of worship: a liminal space where devotion, performance, and community intertwined in a speculative key. Far from functioning as a mere informational archive, the website enables an open pre-registration system that allows anyone to affiliate with the Confraternity of Our Lady Saint Baldana (CSSB). This affiliation—free of financial requirements—is based on the acceptance of three core principles: to love above all things, to respect others and their differences, and to commit to thinking.
Within the virtual space, the section "Values and Sins: The Shop" features a collection of seven objects conceived by the artist as symbolic artifacts to recognize and reframe contemporary forms of the seven deadly sins.
Among them, the Rosary of Santa Baldana stands out—a meditative tool composed of 36 mini blood sausages (six inscribed with the word “Amen”) that reimagines mindfulness through a carnal and emotional key; or the Miraculous Grill-Cross, a ritual emblem made of stainless steel that symbolizes the moderation of gluttony and turns communal grilling into a mystical act. Also included are the Anti-Stress Baldanas—small therapeutic objects that channel anger into calm through tactile and repetitive contact; and the Pack of 2 Fabric Baldanas, which parodies the evangelical logic of giving ("turn the other cheek") to combat greed through the gesture of sharing: one for you, one for someone you choose.
The Confraternity of Our Lady Saint Baldana (CSSB) is a legally registered entity, with tax ID number G75453662, and operates on a non-profit basis. All income generated is dedicated to sustaining the project, and any surplus funds are allocated to the creation of the Santa Baldana Grant.
The CSSB thus proposes a rhizomatic, non-hierarchical community organized around an alternative devotional imagery—where the sacred and the profane intertwine through humor, critique, and affection.