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Through short experimental films, sculptural works, and multimedia installations, Cuatlacuatl’s practice is directly informed and profoundly shaped by his lived experiences as part of a community forced to self-displace since the early 90’s.  His practice constantly recalls the many months his father spent living in the streets of Tijuana, attempting to cross the México/United States border. These generational traumas and the violent history in México toward Indigenous communities are constantly shaping his aesthetic oeuvre. His artistic research initially questioned the why of forced self-displacements. His ongoing projects are an extension of these inquiries while holding México accountable for the injustices that continue to marginalize indigenous communities. His practice amplifies a more extensive understanding of these communities’ histories, migratory experiences, and current diasporic indigeneity from Cholula, México.  Migrant Nahua futurisms is the conceptual framework for an ongoing series of experimental videos and multimedia installations highlighting the community’s forced self-displacement and problematizing indigeneity in diaspora. Allegorically referencing the traditional practices of his community amplifies Indigenous immigrant realities and simultaneously challenges a history of painful fractures, distortions, and constant re-interpretations in the last 500+ years. 

About the Speaker

Federico Cuatlacuatl (b. 1991, Coapan, Cholula, Mexico) is an Associate Professor, University of Virginia, Department of Art.  Federico's work is invested in disseminating topics of Nahua indigenous immigration, social art practice, and cultural sustainability. Building from his own experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant and previously holding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Federico’s creative practice centers on the intersectionality of indigeneity and immigration under a pressing Anthropocene.  At the core of his most recent research and artistic production is the intersection of transborder indigeneity, migrant indigenous diasporas, and Nahua futurisms.  Federico’s independent film productions have been screened in national and international film festivals and exhibitions. As founder and director of the Rasquache Artist Residency in Puebla, Mexico, he actively stays involved in socially engaged works and binational endeavors.