Cecilia Vicuña: Disappeared Quipu

Exhibition Website

Oct 20 2018 - Jan 21 2019

For millennia, ancient peoples of the Andes created quipus—complex record-keeping devices, made of knotted cords, that served as an essential medium for reading and writing, registering and remembering. 

New York-based Chilean artist and poet Cecilia Vicuña (born 1948) has devoted a significant part of her artistic practice to studying, interpreting and reactivating quipus, which were banned by the Spanish during their colonization of South America. Drawing on her indigenous heritage, Vicuña channels this ancient, sensorial mode of communication into immersive installations and participatory performances. 

This exhibition pairs five ancient quipus on loan from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University with a newly commissioned, site-specific installation by Vicuña that combines monumental strands of knotted wool with a four-channel video projection. Together, these quipus of the past and present explore the nature of language and memory, the resilience of native people in the face of colonial repression, and Vicuña’s own experiences living in exile from her native Chile. The exhibition, organized by the MFA and the Brooklyn Museum, is accompanied by participatory performances by the artist, which will incorporate poetry and song.

  • Various Media
  • Indigenous
  • Culture / Lifestyle
  • Americas
  • Cecilia Vicuña

Exhibition Venues & Dates