Pre-Columbian, African, European influence and the compulsive change of the contemporary era.

«Abya Yala: Structural Origins» examines the various processes and forms of creation inspired by traditional methodologies, materials and concepts which were implemented during the different stages of cultural and intellectual growth in the American continent. This project explores the inevitable repercussions that past generations had on the aesthetic, cultural or social values ​​present in contemporary art in Latin America today. This project also refers to the evolutionary processes in the arts which have influenced the different transformations that Latin American art has undergone. In the exhibitions that make up this edition of the 2022 New York Latin American Art Triennial (NYLAAT) we also try to establish the link between contemporary art in the continent and the premeditated use of materials, elements and forms of autochthonous expression of the first inhabitants of this region from the mats, baskets, goldsmith, pottery, textiles, altars, rituals, paintings closely related to tapestry, sculptures in clay, stone, metal, etc.

Abya Yala, which means Mature Land, Living Land or Flowering Land, was the term used by the Kuna, an original nation living in Colombia and Panama, to designate the territory comprised by the American Continent. According to the historical moment lived, they referred to this territory in a different way: Kualagum Yala, Tagargun Yala, Tinya Yala, and Abya Yala, the latter being the one that coincided with the arrival of the Spanish, and which becomes a call to the unity of the peoples to keep their origin present and to continue their path following the footsteps of their ancestors. In the American continent there is a great cultural diversity, either due to the inheritance left by the cultures of the native nations, the European cultures that conquered the continent in the XVI century and their consequent process of mix-races, or due to migratory processes. (Forced and voluntary), Latin America has a large number of denominations that define this cultural diversity. This NYLAAT 2022 presents works and art proposals based on the term Abya Yala, which is itself a symbol of identity and respect for the roots of indigenous peoples. We use it as a starting point to explore the direct connection between the original practices inherited from our ancestors and contemporary art.