Interview with Emireth Herrera ValdésUtopias, Territories and Vulnerability

Tell us about your projects? In 2015, I curated my first exhibition,3459' 6-day live streaming event in New York and London, which originated during a studio visit with Vasiliki at NARS Foundation and Studios. We met while I was resident curator at Residency Unlimited and we established a spontaneous connection and decided to work together and continue our conversation after going back to our respective home countries. While discussing possible projects, we realized that communicating via Skype, and emails while trying to adapt to each other’s time zones that this theme needed to be taken to the next level. In 2018, I started working on the projects From the Vulnerable Territory to the Utopia and Collectivity as an Active Step of Art. My purpose was to develop an empirical research project focused on creativity as an act of resilience. I was inspired by the creativity, identity, and versatility of urban space created by the local communities and immigrants in Saltillo, Coahuila, –my hometown. I wanted to observe the material culture in those "invisible" territories whose collective creations present vastly different narratives of the world than those typically found in a museum or gallery. With the support of the Danish Arts Foundation, I organized the workshop From the Vulnerable Territory to the Utopia. This workshop involved using strategies that invite spectators to reflect and establish a critical posture, dialogue, dream, and imagine a different world through collective work as an act of resilience.

The workshop was provided during the summer of 2019 at the AROS Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, and in Walther Plaths, a community center for homeless Danes. During the workshop, participants were invited to imagine a utopian city and reflect on how they would contribute positively to such a community. While talking about past experiences and imagining their dream city, participants drew and colored a map symbolizing essential elements and acts that make us all human beyond ethnic, cultural, economic, physical, and emotional borders.

Today, I am still interested in curating socially-engaged projects that involve vulnerable communities, such as migrants and people whose precarious conditions render them invisible.

Which would be your dream project?

Growing up in Northern Mexico allowed me to witness how people migrate to improve their lives. This experience has had a crucial impact on my life and has influenced my work in the arts. "The Beast," a train that travels from Southern Mexico to the United States, first opened my eyes to the dynamics of migration. It is impressive to observe human settlements by the railroad and learn how people use their creativity and resiliency to build houses out of cardboard, steel, and other found materials.

Peripheral territories by the railroad have been occupied by some families living in the most precarious conditions for several generations. However, this area is also temporarily inhabited by travelers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, and the other South American and Caribbean countries. The objective of these migrants is to jump and catch a train to the United States in pursuit of a better life. These formative influences drive my current motivation for research into migration studies. My dream project would be focus on social justice, class, gender, identity, and how they manifest in artistic practices through migration.

How do you do your research when you are developing a new project?

Latin America is one of my research focuses. For my graduate degree in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, I wrote my thesis Visual Representations of Modern Dance through the Work of Jose Clemente Orozco and Carlos Merida. I approached the Spanish colonization of Mexico and the revival of its indigenous roots through dance. While analyzing body movements and musical instruments depicted in their paintings, I investigated the connection between dance and the heritage of indigenous people in Mexico. Parallelly, I had the wonderful opportunity to work at the Whitney Museum of Art during the exhibition Vida Americana. This experience allowed me to learn about the connections between Mexican artists and the United States, their influences, and reciprocity.

 During my research, I became fascinated with Orozco's work Vaudeville in Harlem, 1929, where the artist portrays the Harlem renaissance through dance on a stage. As I am currently living in Harlem, I am excited to explore the cultural history of my neighborhood.

Having such a vast experience in the world of the art, curating, writing, and visiting studios, museums, and galleries, what do you think is the soul of art?

 In 2007, I received my BA in architecture at the Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila in Mexico. The following year, I received my MA in Arts at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, where I focused on philosophy and cultural studies. At this point, I merged my knowledge of architecture with the arts. This inspired my career as a curator. This is how I started working with the curator, Catalina Restrepo. I embarked on my journey as an international curator, writer, and executive director at LAR-magazine. Working with Catalina allowed me to immerse myself in the Latin American art scene, and thanks to her I met the well-established, Director and Founder of Residency Unlimited (RU) Nathalie Angles.

I was fortunate enough to have Nathalie’s support, to whom I am grateful for encouraging me to apply for my first residency as a curator in New York at RU in 2015. Through my three-month Residency Program at RU, I was exposed and connected with other great organizations like, NARS Foundation and Studios, Pioneer Works, Flux Factory, and PERFORMA. In 2016, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete my second residency at Flux Factory, where I curated three exhibitions: S.T.E.P. (2018) at the Queens Museum and Flux Factory, 3459' a 6-day live streaming exhibition (2016) that took place simultaneously in two cities, New York and London, and Tongue Tide (2017) which presented art influenced by the plethora of languages spoken in New York City.My graduate degree in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, led me to write art reviews, such as, Sanctuary through the work of Zac Hacmon, and an upcoming review on the Undercover Spaces exhibition at the International Museum of Art & Science by the Center for Latin American Arts in McAllen, Texas.

What is the meaning of curating for you?

Coming from Mexico, I believe that as an international curator I have the responsibility of narrating relevant stories by using critical and tactical strategies. I am interested in conveying a meaningful experience that lasts beyond the exhibition space.

 There is a quote by philosopher Gaston Bachelard that I always carry with me. When he talks about the eagerness to see the world, he says: "like a greedy child, its eyes are bigger than its stomach." I relate to these words. I want to see the world and have an artistic dialogue that highlights the themes of today. I am eager to be surprised by artworks and by the reception of the audience.

Tell us about your next projects

I am currently studying International Migration at The Graduate Center, CUNY, where I am developing my understand of migration policies, migrants' mobility, and how organizations operate as advocates for human rights in such a diverse and global city. I am excited to collaborate on a socially-engaged project that supports a refugee and asylum seeker from Nicaragua: Alexa, a transgender woman that fled her home country due to political persecution. I feel that this project encapsulates a long process of creativity, activism, resilience, and social work. This project represents to me that every little action has made a great impact on this person’s life.

June 2022 by Graciela Cassel