From Other Worlds: Sara Flores at Peru Pavilion — Venice Art Biennale

From Other Worlds: Sara Flores at the Peru Pavilion

For the first time Peru is represented at the Venice Art Biennale by an indigenous artist: Sara Flores (Tambo Mayo, 1950), a member of the Shipibo‑Konibo people. The solo project Sara Flores. From Other Worlds. brings together new work that merges traditional practices with contemporary formal research. The exhibition runs at the Arsenale from 9 May to 22 November 2026.

Curators Issela Ccoyllo and Matteo Norzi developed the selection under the supervision of interim national commissioner Armando Andrade de Lucio. The display juxtaposes large paintings on wild cotton canvas, delicate net‑like sculptures hand‑painted on the same material and the artist’s debut film, Non Nete (A Flag for the Shipibo Nation) (2025).

What to see

The works investigate the kené drawing system — a geometric ornamental language formally significant in Peruvian cultural heritage — alongside Flores’s ongoing formal experimentation. Highlights include:

• Large‑format canvases painted on wild cotton, showing a range of formats and sub‑styles;
• Airy textile sculptures conceived as suspended sheets decorated with kené motifs;
• Non Nete, a 2025 video focused on a hand‑painted flag, accompanied by a ritual soundtrack that adds a synesthetic layer to the exhibition.

Practical information

• When: 9 May — 22 November 2026
• Where: Arsenale — Peru Pavilion, Campo de la Tana, Venice
• Opening hours: Tue–Sun (May–Sept) 11:00–19:00 (Sat–Sun Arsenale may stay open until 20:00); (Oct–Nov) 10:00–18:00; closed Mondays except for selected openings
• Tickets: daily €30, three‑day pass €40
• Curators: Issela Ccoyllo, Matteo Norzi; Commissioner: Armando Andrade de Lucio
• Info: phone +39 041 5218711

Although deeply rooted in Shipibo cultural practice, Flores’s work refuses to be read as mere tradition: the exhibition foregrounds a practice that reconfigures ornamental systems into contemporary painting and installation, weaving together ritual sound, communal memory and formal innovation.