Application deadline: February 5, 2018
SOMA Summer is a unique eight-week program for international artists, curators, critics, and art historians in Mexico City.
SOMA Summer introduces participants to the dynamic art scene of Mexico City through visits to museums, cultural institutions, and artists’ studios. Designed to promote intense creative work and dialogue, the program is built around a series of seminars and lectures led by renowned Mexican and international artists. Participants meet weekly for individual critiques with a variety of artists and curators, while engaging in public programs, site visits, and other activities in and around Mexico City.
SOMA is a space for reconsideration and reflection. Each SOMA Summer is organized around a specific conceptual framework and provides a compelling platform for artists who want to critically analyze their work, while developing new ideas. We stress the importance of our program content, and would discourage applicants who are primarily looking for a studio-based residency. SOMA facilities offer shared studio spaces. Although labs and workshops are not available, we do provide logistical support for producing work and organizing events within Mexico City.
All program activities are in English.
SOMA Summer 2018 will focus on ideas that promote sustainability, looking closely at a handful of organizations around the city (Teotihuacán, Xochimilco, and Texcoco) that are working to maintain an ecological and economic balance. The program is conceived as a hands-on experience where participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with a number of historians, urbanist, lawmakers, and artists, transforming environmental limitations into more socially just possibilities. Local and international artists and thinkers working alongside this parameter will nurture this eight-week experience.
On-site activities and workshops: Eduardo Abaroa (artist, Mexico), Miruna Achim (art historian, US), Cráter Invertido (artists coopertive, Mexico), Capuli/Tecalco (Fernando Palma, artist, Mexico), La Casa del Ahuizote (Diego Flores Magón, Mexico), Gustavo Lipkau (architect, Mexico), Obrera Centro (Mauro Giaconi and Marcos Castro, artists Argentina/Mexico), Plan Acalli (Ehecatl Morales and Carlos Maravilla, artists, Mexico)
Special sessions: Allora and Calzadilla (Jennifer Allora, artist, US), Amy Sara Carroll and Ricardo Dominguez (artists and writers, US), Camel Collective (artists, US/Mexico), Nina Höchtl (artist and researcher, Austria), Patrick Killoran (artist, US), Sara Nada-Melsió (writer, Spain), Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere (artists, US), Tyler Rowland (artist, US), Sandra Rozental (filmaker, Mexico)
Studio visits: Marcela Armas (artist, Mexico), Tania Candiani (artist, Mexico), Minerva Cuevas (artist, Mexico), Ariel Guzik (artist, Mexico)
Individual critiques: Magalí Arriola (curator, Mexico), Tatiana Cuevas (curator, Mexico), Mariana David (curator, Mexico), Irving Dominguez (critic, Mexico), Magnolia de la Garza (curator, Mexico), Edgar Hernández (writer, Mexico), Fabiola Iza (curator, Mexico), Graciela Kasep (curator, Mexico), Willy Kautz (curator, Brazil), Esteban King Álvarez (curator, Mexico), Alejandra Labastida (curator, Mexico), Catalina Lozano (curator, Colombia), Caroline Montenat (curator, France), Manuela Moscoso (curator, Ecuador), Josefa Ortega (curator, Mexico), Víctor Palacios (curator, Mexico), Bárbara Perea (curator, Mexico), Paola Santoscoy (curator, Mexico), Itala Schmelz (curator, Mexico)
Mentorship with: Eduardo Abaroa (artist, Mexico), Ricardo Alzati (artist, Mexico), Nate Harrison (artist/writer, US),
Yoshua Okón (artist, Mexico), Pedro Ortiz Antoráz (artist/urban planner, Spain), Joaquín Segura (artist, Mexico), Lorena Wolffer (artist, Mexico), Felipe Zúñiga (artist/pedagogue, Mexico)
Group critiques and overview: Carla Herrera-Prats (artist, Mexico)
Apply online
More information about SOMA Summer
Detailed program of activities
Contact: andrea.nunez [at] somamexico.org
SOMA Summer is part of SOMA—an experimental pedagogical project launched in 2009, conceived to nurture discussion and exchange in the field of contemporary art in Mexico City. We provide a counterpoint to the dynamics of art schools, museums, and galleries.