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colectivo amasijo: a circular offering

colectivo amasijo, a circular offering, 2025. Produced by Active Cultures and The Brick with ArtCenter College of Design. Photo by Gina Clyne.

the work cycle of the milpa, la milpa, la escuela. Courtesy of colectivo amasijo.

On the rooftop of ArtCenter’s South Campus, we gathered with colectivo amasijo, for a circular procession and communal meal to connect with the cycles of the Milpa, the three sisters, and the equinox. Through this action, the Mexico City-based collective sought to recreate moments when land was common, and paths and biodiversity were cultivated for the milpa to flourish.

The artists invited us to intertwine with a 5000-year-old agricultural system and perform a dance that transcends time, blurring boundaries and reproducing a cycle that has been passed down through generations. They ask: How do we reweave ourselves with the territory? How do we make seeds trust that human hands will sow them again? What are the technologies that we must (re)create where our reproduction of life is interconnected to the forests, the pastures, and the wetlands?

colectivo amasijo guided us through an intimate performance, where we touched, gathered, and bound ingredients foraged from the Milpa and the hills of Pasadena. The performance culminated in an offering of endemic foods harvested by the artists during their agricultural journey in the Yucatán and La Milpa, La Escuela (the site of their field work). The lunch offering also featured tamales made by chef Fatima Juarez who sources heirloom maiz for her restaurant, Komal, here in Los Angeles.

This performance was the final project of ECOTONES, a collaboration centering eco-feminist practices and care from sister organizations Active Cultures and The Brick. It was also presented in conjunction with LIVE ON EARTH! Ecofeminism and Art: a Planetary Symposium (Los Angeles – Den Haag – Seoul), which brought together an international and interdisciplinary group of thinkers and makers approaching systemic social and ecological justice concerns through the lens of art practice, art criticism, and art history.

About the Artist

colectivo amasijo

colectivo amasijo is a group of women from different parts of Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, State of Mexico, and Mexico City) united in their desire to actively reflect on the origin and diversity of our food. The collective was born in 2019 and ever since, has been providing a platform for...

About ECOTONES

This event is part of ECOTONES, a collaborative programming series presented on the occasion of the exhibition Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism at The Brick. Four public programs will be led by an artist or artist-collective to explore local agriculture, foraging, food and herbalism as ritual, and biodiversity.

Through this collaboration, these two L.A.-based art organizations are modeling an ecofeminist ethos by sharing authorship, and collectively generating materials and resources. Taking place in conjunction with the Getty Foundation’s ambitious initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide, ECOTONES will be part of a region-spanning cultural moment, reaching vast audiences interested in the intersection of art, food, feminism, and sustainability.

Support for this program series is provided by Kim and Keith Allen-Niesen, The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation, and Olivia Marciano.

About The Brick

Founded in 2005 as LAXART, The Brick is a nonprofit visual art space that promotes developments in contemporary culture through exhibitions, publications, and public programs. A platform for emerging and under-recognized talent, its mission encompasses thematic exhibitions that engage with the present moment. We believe that contemporary art is a means of understanding key issues of our time with all their inherent contradictions. Contemporary art assumes many forms. Rather than provide answers, it raises questions. Through a range of offerings, we contextualize contemporary art both socially and art historically. Our programs are free and designed to be accessible to the general public.

Credits

Active Cultures’ programs this year are made possible through the generous support of its Board of Directors; the Gatherers Annual Fund; the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition; the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan; the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture; and the California Arts Council.

Event Details

DATE: March 21, 2025 TIME: 12 PM

LOCATION: ArtCenter College of Design, South Campus

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Thank you to those who attended!

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