THE INTERDISCIPLINARY UNIVERSE OF CECILIA VICUÑA IN LONDON

The Whitechapel Gallery in London organizes Living Threads, the first major UK institutional exhibition dedicated to Cecilia Vicuña (Santiago de Chile, b. 1948). Conceived as a comprehensive retrospective, the exhibition brings together six decades of an interdisciplinary praxis in which the Chilean artist, poet, and activist intersects visual arts, poetry, performance, ritual, and activism. Spanning paintings, textiles, photographs, installations, and films, the exhibition trajectory explores how art can be mobilized as an instrument of political resistance, collective memory, and social transformation.

Nevertheless, the exhibition also leaves open critical inquiries regarding appropriationism and the efficacy of political reclamation from socially and geographically distant contexts. London holds a preeminent place in this narrative, as Vicuña relocated to the British capital in the early 1970s following the 1973 military coup in her native Chile. While studying at the Slade School of Art, her work acquired a more explicit political dimension. Yet, the exhibition likewise transcends this direct political nexus to delve into her enduring commitment to ecological preservation and indigenous epistemologies.

The assertion that these two concepts are inextricably linked in the struggle against colonial structures demands rigorous discursive analysis, prompting a reevaluation of the modalities of appropriation employed in pursuit of an overarching objective. Among the standout works in this vein is Quipu Menstrual (2006–2024), a striking installation composed of red and brown wool inspired by ancient Andean knot-based systems of communication, alongside her ephemeral sculptures fashioned from objet trouvés (found materials), which subvert traditional paradigms of permanence and artistic value.

The exhibition further gathers paintings, performance documentation, and projects tied to political resistance, presenting previously unseen archival materials from Artists for Democracy, the organization Vicuña co-founded in London in 1974 to support anti-dictatorship struggles in Chile and globally. The series Palabrarmas, initiated in 1974, occupies a prominent position, encapsulating her conceptualization of language as an apparatus of resistance through the strategic reconfiguration of words to generate novel meanings and political messages.

The exhibition culminates with Foraging Quipu (2025–2026), a large-scale site-specific installation generated from botanical matter, light debris, and objects collected by participating local communities. Public contributions are integrated into a suspended structure modeled after Andean quipus, where organic elements, textiles, plastics, and fragments of wood coalesce into a collective work reflecting upon human-environmental relations and political ecology.

Cecilia Vicuña: Living Threads is on view through February 14, 2027, at the Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London, UK.