“I am writing this letter to keep from writing about you in the third person. It is getting harder and harder for me to put myself in the position of a distant observer who interprets your works. I would rather keep conversing with you, though I must confess that the words are weighing me down this time. Instead of letters, I would prefer to be the red thread with which you tie bodies or the sounds with which you blur the limit between past and present…” – Miguel A. López, “A letter to Cecilia Vicuña’s Vagabond Poetics”
Over the past decade, curator Miguel A. López and poet, artist, and activist Cecilia Vicuña have developed a close friendship through working together, including on two traveling retrospectives of Vicuña’s work. In this very special program, the artist and the curator explored how that relationship has impacted both of their practices and opened up new possibilities. Some of their major collaborations include Seehearing the Enlightened Failure—the artist’s first retrospective exhibition, which was organized by Kunsinstituut Melly and presented in Rotterdam, Mexico City, Madrid, and Bogota between 2019-2022 —and Dreaming Water: A Retrospective of the Future (1964-...), which is currently on view at Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo, Brazil. Vicuña's work is also currently on view as part of ICI's traveling exhibition Actions for the Earth: Art, Care, and Ecology.
Taking this friendship as his starting point, López began the evening by presenting a personal letter addressed to Vicuña, intertwining personal memories with archival materials in a reading of her work that highlights the role of intimacy, trust, and affectivity in curatorial practice. The letter format pushed back against the strictures of traditional academic discourse to offer a unique perspective on both Vicuña’s practice and the generative potential of long-term artist-curator collaborations.
Then, Vicuña joined López for a conversation celebrating proximity and the mutual care that curatorship, at its best, can offer. The two discussed their unique collaborative process and the transformative impact of their friendship.
This program is free and open to the public. Live ASL interpretation is available at this event. Please indicate in your RSVP if you require ASL interpretation. Masks are encouraged.
