“Manuel Chavajay: Xojowi ja qa tee ruachulew”

Paintings, altered ceramics and performance remnants examine land, memory and environmental change in the first institutional solo exhibition devoted to Tz’utujil Maya artist Manuel Chavajay. On view April 30 through November 22 at ICA Miami, Xojowi ja qa tee ruachulew (Mother Earth Dances) brings together 11 works created over the past three years. The exhibition is curated by Gean Moreno, Director of ICA Miami’s Art + Research Center.

Chavajay’s work draws on Tz’utujil language, ancestral knowledge and the landscape surrounding Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. Several works address the lake’s increasing pollution, while others explore relationships among land, seasonal cycles, cosmology and inherited forms of knowledge. The exhibition includes paintings made with marine oil and patterned with traditional embroidery motifs, altered earthenware vessels and traces of site-specific performances.

Born in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala, where he continues to live and work, Chavajay has exhibited internationally at institutions including El Museo del Barrio, the National Gallery of Canada and El Espacio 23 in Miami. His work has also appeared in the São Paulo Biennial, Manifesta 15 and the Bienal de Arte Paiz, among other exhibitions.