RojoNegro Brings Indigenous Knowledge to Mexico's Venice Biennale Pavilion

The artist collective RojoNegro, comprising María Sosa and Noé Martínez, represents Mexico at the 61st Venice Biennale, running from 9 May to 22 November 2026. Their pavilion in the Arsenale features an installation titled 'Invisible Acts to Sustain the Universe,' including a video, paintings with natural dyes, ceramics, a clay-and-salt sculpture built in situ, and a sound work by Alberto Rubí. The work draws on over ten years of collaborative research, engaging with Indigenous epistemologies and resistance. Influences include anthropologists Alfredo López Austin, Mercedes de la Garza, Juan Gallardo, and Carlo Bonfiglioli; choreographer Akram Khan; filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul; and master artisans. RojoNegro describes the pavilion as an offering to ancestors and those sustaining life cycles, healing colonial and capitalist wounds. They connect their work to the Biennale theme 'In Minor Keys,' emphasizing pause, silence, and quiet knowledge. On nationalism, they advocate for a plural Mexico encompassing all Indigenous nations, referencing Zapatista ideals. They note that over 50 Indigenous languages are spoken in one square kilometer of Mexico City, and stress a historical debt to Indigenous peoples protecting ecosystems. The collective views the Biennale as a platform to make Indigenous ways of knowing visible within a Western context, fulfilling a historical duty.