The Ecuador Pavilion at the 61st Venice Art Biennale presents "Tawna & Oscar," an exhibition curated by Manuela Moscoso that brings together the Tawna collective and artist Oscar Santillán. The project, promoted by the Museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art of Ecuador (MAAC), explores Amazonian knowledge, contemporary art, and emerging technologies to question dominant models of life, knowledge, and territory. Central to the curatorial journey is the idea of art as a practice of attention, inviting visitors to slow down and engage with marginal forms of knowledge rooted in Andean-Amazonian territories.
This exhibition matters because it challenges conventional representations of national identity at a major international art event, instead focusing on processes of relationship and exchange between different bodies, languages, and temporalities. By centering pan-Amazonian perspectives and anti-colonial narratives, the pavilion offers a model for how art can foster coexistence among diverse worldviews. It also highlights the growing visibility of Indigenous and collective practices within the global contemporary art system, signaling a shift toward more pluralistic and decolonial curatorial approaches.