61st International Art Exhibition- La Biennale di Venezia

“Las Invisibles”

Commissioner: Liwy del Carmen Immacolata Grazioso Sierra, Minister of Culture and Sport
Curators: Elsie Wunderlich; Stefania Pieralice
Exhibitors: ARKEO, Luana Bottallo, Jorge Chavarría, Manuel Navichoc, Ana Lorena Núñez, SOY artistic group (Christin Behrend, Franca Fabrizio, Yang YeXin), Elsie Wunderlich

Guatemala will be present at the Biennale Arte 2026 with the exhibition “Las Invisibles” at the Spazio Berlendis, in Cannaregio (Ve). In line with the 61th International Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia  “In Minor Keys” by Koyo Kouoh: “The minor keys are also the small islands, worlds amid oceans with distinct and endlessly rich ecosystems, social lives that are articulated, for better and worse, within much larger political forms and ecological stakes”, Guatemala will draw inspiration from the universe of ancient Mayan cultures made up of practices, rituals, habits that are repeated, custodians of an anthropological diversity inspired by the utopian dream of peace and inner balance, of relationship with Qachu Alom (Our Mother Earth). In these communities, women are often the custodians of a millenary history made of collective memory and identity survival, of those values that founded colonial Mayan culture; Ixmucané and Ixquic, described in the Pop(ol) Wu, they symbolize the strength of the female gender.

The different way indigenous peoples experience and inhabit the world, compared to the models of the Western system, determines a relational conception of life, in the indissoluble bonds between the living and the dead, between humans and nature, between present and past. These bonds give rise to a social space where a new community identity is constructed, one that survives despite the process of social and racial exclusion of the indigenous population that began with the Spanish colonization. In this cosmic, timeless, sacred, and eternal dimension, the domestic hearth is the source of life in the complementarity of feminine and masculine elements. Las Invisibles are those Mayan women who offer their lives to the community daily, using mill, stone, and clay slabs to process corn, the source of everything and a tool for the appropriation of a people’s identity. The clay comal, used to ensure the family’s sustenance, toast corn, and prepare tortillas, becomes a memory of silences, wounds, caresses, and sighs, narrating the biography of each woman. The tortear from the hot stone often erases every fingerprint on their damp hands – to prevent the corn from sticking- taking away every identity, past and future. And it is precisely in the subdued, silent tone of the gesture, rich in generosity, consolation, and hope, that “In Minor Keys” shines, a delicate and quiet sound full of faith in humble heroism. Whispers and frequencies will emerge from an exhibition largely inspired by local, indigenous knowledge and customs. Participating artists: ARKEO, Luana Bottallo, Jorge Chavarría, Manuel Navichoc, Ana Lorena Núñez, SOY artistic group (Christin Behrend, Franca Fabrizio, Yang YeXin), Elsie Wunderlich.