Claudia Alarcón, an Indigenous Wichí artist from Argentina, made her U.S. debut at James Cohan Gallery in New York with an exhibition co-organized with Cecilia Brunson Projects. The show features weavings created collaboratively with Silät, an all-women weaving collective formed by curator Andrei Fernández, using traditional Wichí techniques and the yica stitch. The works draw on Wichí cosmology, including a centuries-old tale of women descending from stars, and challenge the distinction between craft and fine art. Alarcón is recognized as the first Indigenous woman to exhibit her work as art at Argentina's foremost art fair.
This exhibition matters because it marks a significant step in elevating Indigenous Wichí weaving from the category of craft to contemporary art on an international stage. Alarcón and Silät's work not only preserves and transmits oral narratives through material form but also asserts the aesthetic and cultural value of their traditions. The show was staged shortly after Alarcón's inclusion in the Venice Biennale, signaling growing institutional recognition for Indigenous artists from Latin America. It also highlights the role of collaborative, intergenerational female labor in producing art that challenges entrenched hierarchies in the art world.