What/Who: The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) is pleased to present a screening of Cecilia Vicuña's 1983 film, PARACAS, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. The screening will be followed by a presentation by Dr. Constantino Manuel Torres on anthropology, shamanism, and the pre-Colombian Paracas culture of the Atacama Desert.
In the film PARACAS, Vicuña animates a 2000-year-old pre-Columbian textile created in the Paracas/Nazca region of Perú. Figures from the ancient textile come to life to perform an imagined ancient ritual in a miniature world created by the artist, set in the poetic universe of a desert transformed into a garden by its ancient inhabitants. Original music was composed and performed specifically for this work by José Pérez de Arce and Claudio Mercado, with chants by Vicuña. The original Paracas textile is in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum.
Following the film, Dr. Constantino Manuel Torres will speak on the topic of on anthropology, shamanism, and the pre-Colombian Paracas culture of the Atacama Desert. Dr. Constantino Manuel Torres, Professor Emeritus, Art and Art History Department at Florida International University, Miami, has conducted research on the connection between iconography and visionary plant use in ancient cultures of the South Central Andes since 1982. He co-authored "Anadenanthera: Visionary Plant of Ancient South America" (2006), a 4,000-year history of the use of this sacred plant, which led to the study of ayahuasca analogues in South American antiquity. He has been the recipient of four Fulbright Fellowships.
The first major U.S. solo exhibition of influential Chilean-born artist Cecilia Vicuña, “About to Happen” is currently on display at MOCA and traces Vicuña’s career-long commitment to exploring displaced materials, peoples, and landscapes in a time of climate change. It is comprised of Vicuña’s multidisciplinary work in performance, sculpture, drawing, video, text, and site-specific installations created over 40 years. Vicuña was recently recognized as a finalist of the 13th Hugo Boss Prize, which celebrates the work of remarkable artists whose practices are among the most innovative and influential of our time. The exhibition is co-curated by Andrea Andersson, The Helis Foundation Chief Curator of Visual Arts at the CAC, and Julia Bryan-Wilson, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley.
“Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen” and Alice Rahon’s “Poetic Invocations” are on view at MOCA through March 29, 2020.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 22; 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Where:
Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
770 NE 125th Street
Miami, FL 33161
Cost:
The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.
To RSVP, visit http://bit.ly/35yak8k.
About Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami is dedicated to making contemporary art accessible to diverse audiences through the collection, preservation and exhibition of the best of contemporary art and its art historical influences. MOCA began operating in 1981, opened a new building in 1996 designed by Charles Gwathmey of GSNY, and was the first collecting institution in Miami. Under the direction of recently appointed Executive Director Chana Sheldon, MOCA premiered AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People during Art Basel Miami Beach in 2018. AFRICOBRA: Nation Time, the next chapter of the exhibition, was selected as an official Collateral Event of Biennale Arte 2019 in Venice, Italy. The museum has achieved re-accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. MOCA has been recognized with grants and awards from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
MOCA is an inclusive cultural hub, embracing the diversity that defines its dynamic community, and organizing exhibitions that propel art and ideas connected to its South Florida home into the global cultural conversation. The museum is located at 770 NE 125th Street, North Miami, FL 33161. It is open Tuesday–Friday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Saturday – Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. (closed Mondays and major holidays). Admission to the museum is $10 and free to MOCA members and North Miami residents. For more information, visit mocanomi.org, call 305-893-6211 or email info@mocanomi.org.
