TO TAIMA OR NOT TO TAIMA: AN EMOTIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE VENEZUELAN DIASPORA
ABRA gallery has inaugurated TO TAIMA OR NOT TO TAIMA, the first solo exhibition in Venezuela by artist María Elena Pombo. Conceived as an interpretation of an archaeological site, the show brings together sculptures, objects, and archival gestures that explore the Venezuelan diaspora through a sensitive and material lens.
The project began in 2018, when Pombo invited Venezuelans around the world to send her water samples from where they lived. Responses came from countries such as Canada, Chile, Colombia, Spain, the United States, and Nigeria. From these samples, the artist extracted pigments from avocado seeds, creating a range of pink hues shaped by the chemical composition of each water source.
These pigments were then transformed into algae-based threads and woven into sculptures displayed alongside the original containers used to transport the water and books that informed the research process.
“Through sculptures, replicas, and archival gestures, the project seeks to portray a moment within the Venezuelan diaspora not through clarity but through fluctuation,” notes the curatorial text. The chosen materials—water, seeds, algae—were selected for their ephemeral nature, mirroring a Venezuela in constant transformation.
The title plays on the archaeological site Taima-Taima and the word taima, used in Venezuelan children's games as a way to call for a pause—derived from time out in baseball, a sport that gained popularity during the country’s oil boom. This dual reference—both to a place that preserves time and a gesture that suspends it—frames the state of suspension and uncertainty that marks the diasporic experience both within and outside Venezuela.
Among the works on view is Tejiendo el Guayabo, a sculpture made from 60 water samples collected since 2018, used to boil avocado seeds and create threads suspended from gridded metal panels. Other pieces include Jerilyn’s Time Capsule, a box sent from Madrid in 2018 and opened in 2025; Aguas Nucleares, a set of bottles from cities where the artist’s family has lived since 2008; and 26 Oxidaciones (Réplica), produced in Caracas due to the impossibility of transporting liquids.
María Elena Pombo is a Venezuelan artist and researcher based in New York. She studied Production Engineering at Universidad Simón Bolívar (Caracas) and Fashion Design at Parsons School of Design (New York), where she now teaches. She has participated in programs such as the Bronx Museum’s AIM Fellowship and residencies at Yaddo, Wave Hill, and LMCC.
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María Elena Pombo. Cortesía de ABRA
Her work has been exhibited at venues including Somerset House (London), the Bronx Museum (New York), Fabbrica del Vapore (Milan), and Grand Hornu Museum (Belgium). In 2021, she received the Theme Medal at the London Design Biennale and has been recognized by institutions such as NYFA, Brooklyn Arts Council, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. In 2024, the Art Institute of Chicago acquired eight pieces from her project La Rentrada. Her work is also part of collections in Italy, the Netherlands, and the U.S., and has been featured in outlets like The New York Times, Vogue, and i-D.
The exhibition will remain on view through June 8, 2025, at Galpón 6 of ABRA gallery, located in the Centro de Arte Los Galpones, Avenida Ávila and 8va Transversal, Los Chorros, Caracas (Venezuela).
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