Unravel symposium

Miguel A. López (Lima, 1983) is a writer and curator. In his practice, he focuses on the role of art in politics and public life, collective work and collaborative dynamics, and queer and feminist rewritings of history. He is a co-curator for the 2024 edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art. From 2015 to 2020, he worked as Chief Curator, and later Co-director at TEOR/éTica, Costa Rica.

Mercedes Azpilicueta is a visual and performance artist from Buenos Aires living and working in Amsterdam. Her artistic practice gathers various characters from the past and the present who address the vulnerable or collective body from a decolonial feminist perspective. In fluid, associative connections she counters rigid narratives of history in an attempt to dismantle them and make room for the affective and dissident voices to emerge.

Ibrahim Mahama (b. 1987, Tamale, Ghana) uses strategies of reclamation and assemblage to make works with found materials that engage with histories of crisis and failure. Community is at the heart of his practice and his large-scale work is often made in collaboration with others. Mahama often wraps historical architecture in fabric, researching moments of intersection and tension between the location of the work and West Africa. As well as being an artist, Mahama is a curator and educator, and he is dedicated to creating opportunities for creativity in Ghana. Since 2019 he has opened three educational spaces in the country, including the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA), an artist-run project space; Red Clay, his studio with research facilities and a residency programme; and a disused silo that he has converted into a cultural centre.

Antonio Jose Guzman (b. 1971, Panama City, Panama) engages in audiovisual storytelling through multidisciplinary textile installations, experimental rituals and performances, and is involved in other projects related to genetics, decolonisation, postcolonial history and the African diaspora. In his Pan-African work, Guzman explores the relationship between the histories of animism, indigo dye, textiles and sociocultural identity to address migration and investigate the mechanisms of power and violence associated with the ongoing confrontations between different perceptual worlds.

Iva Jankovic (b. 1979, Ruma, Serbia) transforms ideas into performances, installations and unique garments. Merging her background in traditional fine arts with crafts, her sustainable practice serves as a platform for artistic research into the use of patterns and symbols across the world. By deconstructing cross-cultural symbols and bringing them to a local environment, she advocates sustainability as a route towards decolonisation.