Tisch alum Laura Ibáñez Kuzmanic has long explored the intersections of feminism, familial memory and activism in her work — as both the artist and the curator. Before studying arts politics at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Ibáñez Kuzmanic co-founded her ongoing art collective, “La Casa de las Recogidas” — which translates to “The House of Collections” — inspired by a 2018 feminist movement in Chile, her home country. 

Now based in Santiago, Ibáñez Kuzmanic works as a curatorial assistant and researcher at the Salvador Allende Museum of Solidarity, collaborating with local communities and artists to develop exhibitions exploring human rights, climate issues and more. As a creator, Ibáñez Kuzmanic’s art ranges from performances to installations that have been showcased in Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Japan and the United States.

In an interview with WSN, Ibáñez Kuzmanic discussed the purpose behind her work, her time at NYU and her future ambitions. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WSN: What inspired your collective, ‘La Casa de las Recogidas?’

Ibáñez Kuzmanic: I wanted to be an artist, but also an investigator of the arts. So I’ve been working on a lot of projects. ‘La Casa de las Recogidas’ is an important part of my journey. I was inspired by a feminist uprising in Chile around 2018 as I went to different marches and protests. There were three of us who were the founding members of the collective — Paula Martínez, Andrea Cifuentes and I. We were studying visual arts and talking about how difficult it was to be a woman artist, and even a queer woman artist, in Latin America. We thought about what it meant to be a Latin woman in a colonized country with different racial expressions, and with a lot of oppression in the educational system, we decided to build this collective. We usually use public spaces and transform them into political performances to oppose the violence against women in Chile. We have been collaborating with a lot of artists around the world — we started our collective with a performance that we put together with famous poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña in the Macchina Gallery in Chile.

Prior to creating “La Casa de las Recogidas,” Ibáñez Kuzmanic enrolled at the Pontificia Universidad Católica De Chile in 2015. Five years later, she had earned two bachelor’s degrees in art history and aesthetics, respectively. 

Ibáñez Kuzmanic said that she also pursued an artistic residency in Fukuoka, Japan in 2022, emphasizing the importance of understanding different cultures through investigative research in her field. As the residency program came to an end, she held an exhibition to showcase her artwork inspired by experiences with companionship and cultural connection. 

WSN: How did you decide to come to NYU in 2022? 

Ibáñez Kuzmanic: I was really interested in the interdisciplinary programs that NYU has. The academic system in Chile is very Eurocentric and can separate disciplines more distinctly. I am someone who loves working in different disciplines — as an artist, curator and even a researcher — so I needed a program that encompassed this. I found out about my program at Tisch while applying to a government scholarship in Chile that covers tuition and expenses. Once I started researching more about the program and talked to a Chilean grad student who went there, I fell in love with the program. It was love at first sight.

As a Master of Arts in Arts Politics student, Ibáñez Kuzmanic took a class with Tisch professor Luis Rincón Alba, learning about how to incorporate elements of community into art. She said the coursework inspired her to consider ways Latin American people interact with language and art, such as how even while protesting colonization, Latin American people use the colonial language. 

Ibáñez Kuzmanic also took a course on critical pedagogy with Steinhardt professor Jessica Hamlin. She said that the introduction to philosopher Paulo Freire’s emphasis on mutual learning over hierarchical teaching from Hamlin’s class continues to influence her work as an assistant curator at the Salvador Allende Museum of Solidarity.

WSN: What themes and emotions do you explore in your work?

Ibáñez Kuzmanic: Feminism is a central part of my work, both individually and through my collective. I also work with queer communities — I’m a lesbian and art has always been a medium that helped me connect with the community. Another part of my work is memory, especially in relation to Chile’s history and human rights. My family was really affected by leadership in Chile, which is an important part of my story. I was talking to my grandmother about this topic, and she started praying, because it’s a wound that never closed completely. When I work with topics like memory, I try to center the piece on something that is more universal. For example, grief is something that is important in my family because my family was exiled. A lot of my uncles passed away — that is how I understand grief. It’s likely that no one fully understands the same grief I do, but there is a sentiment that we have in common. I portray these threads or connections through my work.

Currently, Ibáñez Kuzmanic is crafting a curatorial project called “Aquí, en el pliegue del paisaje” — translating to “Here, in the fold of the landscape” — for the Departamento Jota gallery in Santiago, exploring the theme of memory alongside a variety of artists. She is also continuing to expand the collective “La Casa de las Recogidas” and is creating a new project in collaboration with Forest for Tress Collective, which is based in New York and focused on environmental art and climate futurism.

WSN: What kinds of conversations do you hope your work sparks?

Ibáñez Kuzmanic: I try not to control that. People are so different from one another and subjectivity itself is different. A lot of people who are conservative would not like my work. I don’t expect them to be affected. At the same time, I do enjoy that it can piss them off — I don’t have an issue with that. On the other hand, there are people who are really disconnected from contemporary art, and that’s okay too. As a facilitator, I would love for people to have their own conclusions based on their own emotions. I think for me, if my artwork provokes something or if you feel something about my work — it was a success.

Contact Lekhya Kantheti at [email protected].