Curator Elena Filipovic replaces Barragán's art with contemporary works in Mexico City house exhibition

At Estancia FEMSA / Casa Luis Barragán in Mexico City, American curator Elena Filipovic orchestrated an exhibition titled 'Emissaries for Things Abandoned by Gods' from September 21 to December 15, 2019. She replaced every art and art-adjacent object in Luis Barragán's UNESCO-recognized modernist home with contemporary pieces by 16 international artists. Filipovic's guiding question was what the late Mexican architect might collect if alive today. The curator established specific rules: new works had to relate formally or conceptually to originals, occupy similar spaces at comparable scales, and avoid disrupting the visitor's experience of the house. Deana Lawson contributed two photographic works: 'Sons of Cush' (2016), depicting a Black father with his baby, replaced an 18th-century Annunciation painting in Barragán's bedroom, while 'Adorah' (2008), showing a dead fetus in a coffin, substituted an ivory crucifix. Danai Anesiadou's vacuum-packed objects like 'Deal with It Across All Levels and All Dimensions' (2019) were placed throughout the house. The exhibition's final room preserved Barragán's original studio possessions intact. Admission cost 400 pesos and required advance booking. The show's premise assumed visitors would engage with the contemporary art rather than merely experience Barragán's architectural environment. Estancia FEMSA has become known for allowing curatorial experimentation within Barragán's historically significant residence.