The Peruvian artist’s work reflects on armed conflicts in Peru and the intersection between ecology, inequality and political violence.
From December 5, 2025, to January 25, 2026, the São Paulo Museum of Art – MASP presents Video Room: Maya Watanabe, curated by Glaucea Helena de Britto. The exhibition marks the Brazilian premiere of Bullet (2021), a single-channel video installation by Peruvian artist Maya Watanabe, which examines the remains of an unidentified victim from the internal armed conflict that claimed nearly 70,000 lives in Peru between 1980 and 2000.
In Bullet, the camera wanders through a fractured human skull caused by a gunshot, revealing an interior that resembles a rocky, cratered landscape inhabited by a spider weaving its web — a metaphor for time, neglect and political silence toward the victims of arbitrary executions.
“Watanabe’s work is both a denunciation of impunity and a reflection on the forces — natural and social — that shape human life. The spider’s web embodies the bond between ecology and society,” says curator Glaucea Britto.
About the artist
Born in Lima in 1983, Maya Watanabe lives in Amsterdam and is internationally recognized for her video installations addressing political violence and collective memory. Her works have been exhibited at Manifesta, Videobrasil, the Havana Biennial and the Beijing Biennial. She teaches at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and is a PhD researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London.
The exhibition is part of MASP’s 2025 annual theme, Histories of Ecology, which also features artists such as André Taniki Yanomami, Clarissa Tossin, Frans Krajcberg, Abel Rodríguez, Minerva Cuevas, Hulda Guzmán and the collective Mulheres Atingidas por Barragens.
Service
Video Room: Maya Watanabe
Dates: December 5, 2025 – January 25, 2026
Venue: MASP – Lina Bo Bardi Building, 2nd basement
Address: Avenida Paulista, 1578 – São Paulo, Brazil
Admission: R$75 (full) | R$37 (half) | free on Tuesdays
Website: masp.org.br/ingressos | Phone: +55 (11) 3149-5959
Photo: Divulgação / MASP
