Qhapaq Ñan 2024

I have been creating contemporary art by addressing the culture of the Andean people before colonization. In this installation shot, I have a large wall piece made out of hand made paper and gold leaf, that represents the city of Cusco , shaped like a puma. The city of Cusco was the capital of the Inka Empire and from there the Inka roads or Qhapaq Ñan started, which covered all of the Inka territory, which nowadays can be described as going from the south of Colombia, through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and parts of Chile and Argentina. Another element that is addressed in this installation shot, is the belief in Wak'as or sacred objects, that in this installation are represented as three dimensional organic shapes. Mummies for example in Inka culture are considered Wak'as.

Guaman Poma 2024

In this series, I explored some of the images that are part of the 1200 page long letter by 16th century Peruvian Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala to King Philip III of Spain. In this letter, in true decolonial fashion, Guaman Poma starts out with the assumption that Andean people are the center of the world, and that the colonization by Europeans is something that is not only illegitimate, buy unlawful. This is one of the only colonial documents we have that is written about Andean people from the perspective of an Andean and as such reveals many facts of Andean culture that otherwise would have not seen the light.

Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.

Micaela Vivero

United States

https://www.micaeladevivero.com/

Micaela de Vivero was born in Munich, Germany, grew up in Quito, Ecuador, and now lives in Newark, Ohio, USA. Micaela has been an artist in residence at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, NE, USA; Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland; Chretzeturm in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland; Koli Ryynaanen in Koli, Finland; Rondo Marienmühle in Graz, Austria; Acoss Foundation in Yerevan, Armenia; Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany; Camac in Marnay-sur-Seine, France; Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France; Wool Museum in Covilha, Portugal; PINEA Linea de Costa in Rota, Spain; and Petra Air in Kavala, Greece. These trips have helped her to learn about differences, about people, about the world and herself. She now is Professor at Denison University in Granville OH. She has been a Unesco-Aschberg grant recipient, a 2024-2025 US Fulbright Scholar, among other grants. She has exhibited her work around the world.