RojoNegro will represent Mexico at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
THE MEXICO PAVILION PRESENTS ACTOS INVISIBLES PARA SOSTENER EL UNIVERSO AT THE 61ST INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION - LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA
In response to the saturation and immediacy of contemporary life, Actos invisibles para sostener el universo, by the collective RojoNegro—formed by María Sosa and Noé Martínez—and curated by Jessica Berlanga, has been selected by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), an agency of the Secretaría de Cultura del Gobierno de México, to represent Mexico at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
The project opens a space for contemplation that articulates memory and ritual technologies from a decolonial perspective. Through a sensory experience, the work invites attentive listening in which the body, matter, and environment are recognized as carriers of knowledge, enabling other ways of perceiving and relating to the world.
Through a practice that integrates installation, performance, and sound, RojoNegro addresses the enduring effects of colonial processes on bodies, territories, and contemporary cosmologies. The exhibition unfolds as a spiritual invocation in which the intelligence of materials—salt, clay, and tobacco—emerges through deep observation. This constellation is accompanied by an audiovisual work in which breathing sets the rhythm of the experience and intertwines with the sounds of the earth, generating an active archival presence and an expanded mode of listening.
Within the pavilion, a line of salt in the shape of a virgula—a Mesoamerican symbol of speech and conversation—guides visitors through an environment where breathing establishes the rhythm of the work. Resting upon it are bird-shaped vessels, beings that symbolically connect the Americas. The salt absorbs moisture and acquires a sheen that evokes sweat; through contact, the ceramic gradually erodes, reminding us that matter also transforms while preserving memory. Shared between organism and territory, salt marks a time of pause and care.
Another central element of the installation is the presence of the tobacco plant, associated with the protection of emotional wellbeing and the induction of altered states of consciousness, whose medicinal and purifying uses are documented in the Florentine Codex. The color palette of the works evokes water deities such as Huixtocíhuatl, calling forth cycles of gestation, protection, and renewal, in which water, clay, and salt act as elements in dialogue.
As part of the project, a catalog will be published in July 2026, conceived as a space for documentation and reflection on Actos invisibles para sostener el universo. The publication brings together the working processes of the collective RojoNegro, along with texts by various authors who critically engage with the work and its development, expanding the conceptual threads that run through the project.
The project will also include a public program in Mexico, designed to accompany and deepen the reflections proposed by Actos invisibles para sostener el universo.
(Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), an agency of the Secretaría de Cultura del Gobierno de México)
Actos invisibles para sostener el universo by the collective RojoNegro at the Mexico Pavilion, located within the Arsenale complex, will be open to the public from May 9 through November 22, 2026. The official public opening will take place on Saturday, May 9, at 11:00 a.m. (Venice time).