SOMA Summer is an intensive three-week academic program in Mexico City for artistic inquiry that welcomes a cohort of international artists, curators, critics, and art historians interested in collaborative pedagogical models. Each SOMA Summer is organized around a different theme that provides a compelling conceptual framework for research and creative work.
Entanglements / And what if skin was the center of our body and not its limit?
We are not individual entities but rather complex amalgamations, intricately woven into the fabric of biological, cultural, and somatic systems. The world predates our existence; every object, idea, and event carries its own history; independent of us. The labor involved in their emergence cannot be solely attributed to us. We exist as interconnected threads, bound to one another, to flora and fauna, to microorganisms, and to the entirety of the biosphere. These bonds serve as the fertile ground for our actions, thoughts, and emotions to flourish. The notion of individual creation is but a myth; everything we produce is a collaborative effort. Gutenberg’s printing press would have been impossible without Chinese technologies, without wine presses, without migrations, without minerals and grapevines. How then do we navigate existence and creation under such assumptions?
Under the guidance of Taniel Morales (artist, Mexico City), Vivian Abenshushan (artist, Mexico City), and Yoshua Okón (artist, Mexico City), SOMA Summer will adopt the principles of Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy. Participants in this edition will create and share knowledge engaging in facilitated workshops and participatory sessions. This pedagogical approach seeks to challenge prevailing individualistic and reductionist perspectives. By placing emphasis on the intersections between individuals, authorships, disciplines, territories, and worldviews, the program aims to cultivate exquisite and irreplaceable hybrids of thought and expression.
The three-week program comprises two seminars, five master classes, numerous collaborative work sessions, and five field visits. In these visits, participants will explore the perimeter of the Pre-Columbian city of Tenochtitlan, delve into the exhibits of the National Museum of Anthropology, and experience firsthand the agricultural traditions of Xochimlico’s chinampas. Additionally, visits to National Park La Marquesa will provide insights into the interconnectedness of environment, society, and ancestral cultures, while a visit to Colectivo de Cine Yerbabuena will offer a glimpse into grassroots community filmmaking on the outskirts of Mexico City. Throughout our sessions, we will delve into the relationship between intellectual and embodied experiences, engage in consensus building exercises, and examine the dynamics of individual and collective interactions. All these discussions on the plasticity of social configurations and expanded creative pedagogies will be framed by Mexico City, an exquisite and irreplaceable hybrid in and of itself.
Apply online
Use the online platform to complete your application with the following: Short biography, curriculum vitae, artist’s statement, letter of interest, portfolio, contact information for three references.
SOMA Summer invites participants who are eager to reflect on their practice, and who are not focused on preparing work for exhibitions or have previous commitments with impending deadlines.
Contact ssummer [at] somamexico.org for further information regarding your application. For more information about the program visit: SOMA Summer 2024.
SOMA Summer is part of SOMA: an experimental pedagogical project, conceived as a platform for reconsideration and reflection where revisiting creative processes is encouraged. The program might be subject to change.
