Curatorial guided tour of the exhibition of Antonio Pichillá with guest Zala Orel

Conducted by: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec, curator of the exhibition and Zala Orel, Head of BIEN – Biennial of Textile Art

Antonio Pichillá Quiacaín (1982, San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá) belongs to the Maya Tz'utujil ethnic group. He uses his formal art training as a strategy to change the Eurocentric understanding of Maya art. The artist draws on the cultural heritage of his ancestors and uses it as a medium. He connects rituals and customs that honour the cosmogony of the Maya, demonstrating the contemporary relevance of their ancestral wisdom. In his art practice, he employs natural materials and combines them with fabric as the guiding thread of a discourse of resistance.

Photo: Urška Boljkovac. MGLC Archive.