Fondation Cartier strengthens partnership with Sydney Biennale and appoints new First Nations curatorial fellow
The article highlights Cristina Flores Pescorán as one of 14 artists selected for a new partnership between the Sydney Biennale and the Fondation Cartier. Based in The Hague, the Peruvian artist works with Gossypium barbadense, a native cotton species known for its long, glossy fibres that was used in pre-colonial Peru but later outlawed under Spanish colonial rule because its natural earth tones were considered to “contaminate” the preferred white cotton. Flores Pescorán incorporates Chancay weaving techniques, which she learned from specialist artisan Esteban Nazario Redondo, into her practice.
Her work is presented as a way of reconnecting with ancestral traditions that colonialism sought to suppress. By preserving and highlighting the natural qualities of the native cotton, Flores Pescorán hopes to revive a practice that was once “considered dead.” Her participation forms part of a broader initiative supporting artists from different Indigenous cultures, with the Fondation Cartier emphasizing cultural diversity, artistic exchange, and the importance of supporting communities in sharing their histories and perspectives.
Excerpted words written by Elizabeth Fortescue for The Art Newspaper.
