Cassandra Mayela Allen's exhibition "Aquel Amplex" is on view at Instituto Cervantes in Manhattan from April 16 to June 27, 2026. Curated by Fabiola R. Delgado and Carlos Núñez, the show features the Venezuelan-born artist's recent textile and painting works, including a large chain-like net constructed from colorful braids made over two years with community participation. The title references a 1969 letter between Brazilian artists Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Clark about the embrace between object and viewer. Other works on view include "Hija de la Independencia" (2026), "Hazme de todo menos daño" (2026), and "American as in del continente americano Abya Yala..." (2025–26), the latter of which will enter the Instituto's permanent collection. Allen also hosted communal braiding workshops where participants repurposed South American flags into new braids for the exhibition.
This exhibition matters because it foregrounds collaborative, community-based art practice rooted in Latin American modernist traditions, challenging notions of authorship and temporality. Allen's work, which previously engaged Venezuelan immigrants in "Maps of Displacement" (2021– ), demonstrates how art can serve as a site of memory, resistance, and collective identity. By transforming national symbols into shared material and inviting participants to physically contribute to the artwork, the show offers a powerful model for art that is both socially engaged and aesthetically compelling, while also addressing themes of migration, belonging, and cultural hybridity in the Americas.