Sangre de Nopal/Blood of the Nopal: Tanya Aguiñiga and Porfirio Gutiérrez in Conversation

Sangre de Nopal/Blood of the Nopal is a multi-exhibition project that examines the intersection of art and science within the Indigenous Oaxacan diaspora. The cultivation of cochineal—a red dye derived from an insect that lives on the opuntia (prickly pear) cactus—by the Zapotec peoples, and its use by contemporary artists, provide a case study in multi-generational innovation. At the Fowler Museum, two fiber artists who were part of the project’s interdisciplinary research team, Tanya Aguiñiga and Porfirio Gutiérrez, will be featured in an exhibition of new commissions and existing work, alongside Oaxacan textiles from the Fowler collection. This multivocal exhibition will center ancestral knowledge and technical experimentation, and also bring a special focus to immigration and labor justice. A companion exhibition will be presented at MCA Santa Barbara featuring the work of Aguiñiga, Gutiérrez, and other contemporary artists, and each exhibition will include a “lab” component, where the language of western science meets traditional ecological knowledge.

Fowler Museum at UCLA with additional venue at:
Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) : OCT 6 2024 - JAN 12, 2025