Vir Andres Hera – Amoxtli, 2024

Vir Andres Hera’s practice stems from a multiplicity of narratives, languages and subjectivities. Alternating mediums as their projects unfold, the artist draws on currents of thought that affirm marginalised or racialised identities: the queer movement, Chicana and black studies. Favouring a collective approach, Vir Andres Hera works with researchers, activists, performers and shamans to reconstruct fragmented narratives.

Meaning ‘notebook’ or ‘book’ in Nahuatl (an Aztec language), the installation Amoxtli owes its name to the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, whose multilingual work transcended the notion of borders. It reflects the idea of nepantla, described by Gloria Anzaldúa (1942-2004) — a writer, poet, theorist and feminist activist of Mexican origin — as a kind of interstice between all manifestations of identity, and allowing for mutation and multiplicity. Vir Andres Hera invited around twelve prominent LGBTQIA+ activists, artists and technicians to talk about their personal journeys and their identities. Like Sayat-Nova’s poems, the work unfolds simultaneously in Spanish, French and English. Each story is translated or interpreted, superimposing the voices of the translators on those of the performers in a concrete attempt to multiply perspectives.