iMuseo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC)Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán
Desde el umbral
"From the Threshold": artists, collectives and activists challenge the political split between nature and humanity, lending the natural world sentience and spirit.
More in Mexico City
"There's now a document that says: 'plaintiffs: whales'," co-curator Alejandra Labastida told Gaceta UNAM. In 2025 the nonprofit Nuestro Derecho al Futuro sued the Mexican government on behalf of 31 Gulf of California whales to stop a gas terminal, and the project is on hold. Documentation of the case is in the show.
Labastida calls the show "a very fun Frankenstein": 18 artists, collectives and activists across Salas 1 and 2, with embroidery, painting and legal paperwork side by side. You start at a monumental hanging of Shipibo-Konibo textiles from Peru. Elisa Schmelkes has written a choral duet with the Río Magdalena and will share the royalties with it. The river runs through the Viveros de Coyoacán, so the morning joggers there are passing a credited composer.
One piece shows almost nothing on purpose: PATIO Lab keeps the environmental defenders it works with out of view, after killings and prosecutions of Mexican environmentalists rose 25% in 2024. Tickets are MXN 60, half price on Sundays, free Thursdays 18:00 to 20:00.
Look for
Non kené nete
Embroidered cloths by the Peruvian Shipibo-Konibo collective Soi Noma hang from a suspended structure, covered in kené, geometric patterns based on anaconda skin.
The Mural of More-than-Human Rights
A wallpaper mural lists rivers that have won legal rights; look at it through the masks provided to read extracts from the rulings.
Ariel Guzik's Holoturian
A solid iron submarine inscribed with 'cetacean calligraphy', built to dive deep, with a warm wooden chamber inside holding a live plant and a string instrument.
The Ecosexual Weddings
Photos, magazines and ephemera from the 21 weddings in which Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens married the earth, the sea, coal, the moon and fire.
Ulf Rollof's Proyecto Axolotl
Latex buoys, a latex suit and flashing car hazard lights from Rollof's 1986 attempt to explain human anatomy to the axolotls of Lake Pátzcuaro with light.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want art you can take in at a glance: several works are legal case documentation.
With kids
Under-12s get into MUAC free, and the museum runs Sunday children's workshops (Punto extra) alongside the show.
Also at Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC)
On now nearby
Image credits
5
- Desde el umbralCourtesy of Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC)
- El Códice de AzcatitlanCourtesy of Museo Nacional de Antropología
- Entretejidas | Mextrópoli, 13o. Festival de Arquitectura y CiudadCourtesy of Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso
- El evento de un hilo. Narrativas globales en los textilesCourtesy of Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo
- Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC)Luisalvaz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0