The selection of works in this viewing room highlights the output of international artists who engage with memory and the passage of time. At their core, the works evoke acts of remembrance, the creation of devices that fix moments and remedy oblivion, as well as attempts to materialize the very passage of time.

Memory is mobilized by these artists in ways that traverse both personal and political events, activating a range of techniques that extend from intimate records of daily life to official mechanisms of remembrance.

In the ethereal paintings of Nino Kapanadze (1990, Tbilisi, Georgia), calligraphy and image merge in a search to capture fleeting moments. A confessional and diaphanous tone of lived experience also marks the intimate embroideries of Feliciano Centurión (1962, San Ignacio, Paraguay – 1996, Buenos Aires, Argentina).

Materiality, in turn, occupies a central place in the practices of Grada Kilomba (1968, Lisbon, Portugal), Michael Rakowitz (1973, Great Neck, USA), and Carlos Garaicoa (1967, Havana, Cuba). Through objects and symbolically charged materials, Kilomba and Rakowitz retell histories of colonialism and confront erasure, while Garaicoa brings different temporalities into coexistence, prompting us to re-encounter histories of utopia and ruin.

From Garaicoa’s architectural remnants, we encounter the rocks and minerals that constitute the work of Elena Damiani (1979, Lima, Peru). In her practice, geological time—of immeasurable length—takes on material form, inviting an ontological confrontation with matter that displaces humanity from the center of time’s measure.

Finally, the vibrant colors of the iconic Day-Glo paints in the work of Peter Halley (1953, New York, USA) speak to an interconnected world that began to take shape in the 1980s. The speed, isolation, vibration, and information circuits these paintings respond to have since become even more pronounced today. In this sense, the artist’s paintings—featuring symbolic prisons anchored in theories of the society of the simulacrum—emerge as a beacon that helps situate us within the present moment.