Exhibitions
Olinda Silvano: the radiance of kené that is conquering the world
The Shipibo-Konibo artist and activist Olinda Silvano Inuma presents Nokon kenera jatibian biribirishamanai (“My kené shines to the world”), her first solo exhibition at MALI, a show that spans more than a decade of artistic exploration and reaffirms the relevance of kené as a language of knowledge, memory and contemporary creation.
Curated by María Eugenia Yllia, the exhibition offers an exploration of the career of an artist whose work has garnered increasing interest in local and international art circles. The exhibition's title celebrates both the Shipibo-Konibo language and kené, a complex visual system composed of countless geometric patterns that, according to Amazonian tradition, embodies the knowledge passed down by plant healers.
Over the past few decades, this ancestral language has transcended its territories of origin to become part of the global ecosystem of contemporary art. In this process, Olinda Silvano has become one of its leading ambassadors.
Although the exhibition does not strictly follow a chronological order, it allows visitors to reconstruct the decisive moments that marked his artistic development. One of these occurred in 2011, when he began projects related to fashion and textile art with designer Anabel de la Cruz. That experience opened new possibilities for the application of kené beyond traditional media.
However, a turning point came with his encounter with curator and anthropologist César Ramos Aldana. His influence was fundamental in helping Silvano recognize the artistic value of the knowledge inherited from his culture. Thanks to this dialogue, he became acquainted with the historic National Autonomous Higher School of Fine Arts of Peru and began to question the idea that indigenous knowledge occupies a subordinate place compared to Western academic training.
From then on, exchanges and collaborations emerged with artists such as Julia Ortiz, Carolina Estrada, Harry Chávez, Augusto Ballardo, Pepe Corzo, Naty Muñoz and Julio Vega, who contributed to enriching his visual language and consolidated a network of affective and creative ties.
Another pivotal encounter was with anthropologist and artist Alejandra Ballón. Together, in 2015, they embarked on a pioneering mural painting project that transformed the kené language into a form capable of engaging with urban space. This practice led to the creation of the Soi Noma Collective, initially composed of muralists Wilma Maynas and Silvia Ricopa.
More than an aesthetic proposal, Shipibo-Konibo muralism has consolidated itself as an artistic and political movement that makes the voices of indigenous women visible in the public space and has taken its work to international stages.
Silvano's most recent work reveals a new formal evolution. In collaboration with his son, the artist Ronin Koshi, he develops compositions of precise geometries and vibrant colors that stand out for the purity of their forms and the intensity of their chromatism.
This transformation was linked to his participation in Río Corrientes, a creative laboratory led by the artist Christian Bendayán, where he experimented with new formats and techniques, including screen printing. It was also in this context that he incorporated materials such as gold and silver leaf, elements that visually enhance the characteristic shine of his kené and expand the expressive possibilities of his work.
The exhibition thus reveals a journey that ranges from early works created with natural pigments—used to narrate stories and testimonies linked to his experience and cultural memory—to recent works that incorporate acrylics, industrial objects, and a variety of textures. This evolution does not represent a break with tradition, but rather its constant expansion.
You may be
interested
...
