Ximena Garrido-Lecca's Botanical Insurgencies at 34th São Paulo Biennial

Peruvian artist Ximena Garrido-Lecca presents 'Insurgências Botânicas: Phascolus lunatus' in the inaugural exhibition of the 34th São Paulo Biennial's presentation cycle, 'Faz escuro mas eu canto,' at the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo in Parque do Ibirapuera. The work, on view from February 8 to March 15, examines natural patterns in lima bean seeds, interpreting them as ideograms to translate a chapter from the 1621 book 'Extirpación de la idolatria del Piru' by Father Pablo José Arriaga, which details Peruvian traditional cults targeted for elimination during colonization. Garrido-Lecca describes cultivating the beans as a symbolic re-activation of the Moche civilization's communication system, which used seed markings as signs for an ideographic script. The installation includes a hydroponic cultivation system, allowing plants to grow year-round and enabling the public to observe the work's transformation, echoing the Biennial's full unveiling scheduled for September 2020. The piece functions as a memory recuperator, referencing the pre-Inca Moche civilization (100-850 AD) that used a Peruvian variety of the plant in its written communication system, as recorded in ceramics, and developed advanced irrigation. The Biennial's opening cycle is housed at the Pavilhão da Bienal on Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral in São Paulo's Parque Ibirapuera.