Diploma Program in Live Arts and Performance

What are the performative practices that shape contemporary art discourse today? What kinds of knowledge, reflections, and imaginaries do they produce? What epistemologies have influenced their development in Mexico from the 1950s to the present? How do we incorporate and embody the concepts of Live Arts and Performance in our reflection and production?

This diploma program positions our bodies as living geographies—with somatic and political materiality—to discuss contemporary artistic practices. Its structure resonates with the fields of artivism, ecofeminism, and dissident movements.

A situated body excretes, digests, breathes, embraces, interrupts, arranges, edges, dances, mobilizes, penetrates, pollinates, cooks, enjoys, halts, contains, receives, directs. It is a territory, shaping reality. It interposes itself between other bodies—to pull, to embrace, to resist; it stirs up dust.

This pedagogical project will explore the state of Live Arts and Performance by situating and analyzing body-centered artistic practices in Mexico, connecting them with local and historical frameworks in Latin America and international scenes.

The program consists of four modules taught by national and international artists who will share their methodologies, reflections, and contexts from their own territories. A space for dialogue and mediation between modules will be established to weave shared experiences and collective knowledge.

The program will conclude with a public presentation by participants, featuring a virtual fanzine in the form of an exquisite corpse, composed of writings, images, and videos created throughout the process.

The methodology is designed by curator Silverio Orduña and curator-artist Olga Gutiérrez, who propose thinking of knowledge as a practice that unfolds through personal experience, questioning the boundaries that define Live Arts.