Interplanetary Simulations residency program

Interplanetary Simulations, the first volume of Travesías Terremoto, is a research residency that brings together Latin American artistic and scientific practices to explore space investigation, planetary imagination and the possibilities of the cosmos in the face of a bleak future on Earth. The project consists of the exploration of the Sonoran desert—characterized by its exoplanetary landscape—to collectively reflect on utopian strategies of world creation and non-hegemonic futures under an anti-patriarchal, anticolonial and antiracist gaze. 

With fully funded programs, five Latin American artists will have the opportunity to experience an exceptional immersion in the Pinacate Biosphere—characterized by its star-shaped dunes, unusual flora and fauna, and giant craters—in close collaboration with a team of space scientists from the Agencia Espacial Mexicana and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. 

The residency, co-curated by Helena Lugo (Director of Terremoto) and Ana Cristina Olvera (scientific journalist), will be conceived as an analog mission (activities undertaken on Earth that simulate outer space) where artists will be involved hand in hand with scientists to carry out explorations, experiments, walks, research, generate dialogues, and write collectively. We want artists to contribute to the spatial conversation from a sensitive, experimental, collaborative, imaginative and radical place. Let’s remember the first trip to the Moon was not suggested by science but literature. This project provides artists with the real possibility of contributing to the feat conceived as one of technocratic advances and allows them to raise concerns from the history of colonialism, patriarchy and the great social inequalities from a perspective of the global south, extremely necessary for the continuation of life.

In the era of climate change, water and air pollution, and the decline of species diversity, one of the most pressing issues of our time is to turn to narratives that consider planetary repair, ecological restoration and the possibility of inhabiting other worlds. Therefore, this project seeks to think of extraterrestrial travel as a center of imaginal recomposition, based on explorations of the Anthropocene, science fiction, decolonial practices, spatial narratives and speculative fabulation.

Interplanetary Simulations seeks to navigate around the questions: What are the horizons of organic and inorganic life? How does space exploration challenge our society? Can we escape the Western, colonial and patriarchal narratives that are consuming the Earth? Can artistic practices contribute to the construction of other, perhaps more imaginative, futures on this and other surfaces of the cosmos? Interplanetary Simulations is more than a simulacra; it is an attempt to create possibilities based on strategies of planetary imagination and utopian thinking from a Latin American perspective.

The residency will be accompanied by a public program, an exhibition, a printed publication and a series of texts for our online platform. 

Open calls
With the intention of cultivating spaces for collaboration, reflection and dialogue in Latin America and the Caribbean, we have launched a series of open calls for 5 Latin American artists in alliance with institutions such as  Pivô  (Brazil), LA ESCUELA_ (Latin America and the Caribbean) and Y.ES Contemporary (El Salvador). All of our programs are fully funded, they include transportation, accommodation, insurance, meals and programming. Open calls will remain open from October 17 to December 15, 2023. Results will be published by the end of January and the residency will take place from March 8–April 8, 2024.  For more information on how to apply go here. 

Interplanetary Simulations is a project carried out in collaboration with Ayarkut and is possible thanks to the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts (United States), Fundación Ama Amoedo (Argentina) and Intelisis Software  through EFIARTES (Mexico). We appreciate the support of Celma Art Brokers, the Brazilian embassy in Mexico, as well as the Pinacate Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere and the Museum of Art of Sonora MUSAS as the main locations of the project.

Learn more about Terremoto and Interplanetary Simulations.