Sandra Gamarra Heshiki's exhibition "Réplica" at MASP in São Paulo opens with an unplanned replica of Francisco Laso's "Habitante de las cordilleras del Perú" (1855), which could not travel from Lima due to bureaucracy. Gamarra produced an inverted, altered version, establishing a critical distinction between copying and responding. The exhibition is organized into sections that parody the classical chronology of encyclopedic museums—"Pre-colonial," "Colonial," "Post-independence," "Modern," and "Contemporary"—transforming the museum into an object of analysis. Gamarra's paintings engage with colonial iconographies, such as the pinturas de castas, by inscribing racial classifications directly onto the figures, making the colonial verdict inseparable from the bodies depicted.
This exhibition matters because it challenges the foundational narratives of art history and museum display, particularly the linear, hegemonic structures inherited from colonial frameworks. Gamarra, a Peruvian artist with Andean, Afro-Peruvian, and Japanese heritage, uses her practice to expose the fragility and contingency of what is preserved as cultural heritage. By replicating and altering canonical works, she critiques the mechanisms that determine what is seen and transmitted, offering a powerful commentary on race, colonialism, and the politics of visibility in art institutions. The show is curated by Guilherme Giufrida, Adriano Pedrosa, Florencia Portocarrero, and Sharon Lerner, underscoring its institutional and critical weight.