Original article: Santiago: Galería Gabriela Mistral presenta «Performance de la sangre» de la artista Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla

Santiago’s Gabriela Mistral Gallery Presents ‘Performance of Blood’ by Artist Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla

The Gabriela Mistral Gallery invites you to the exhibition titled ‘Performance of Blood’ by visual artist, writer, and Mapuche performer Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, hailing from Valdivia.

This exhibit, which opens on March 6 at 7:00 PM, marks the first event of the 2026 exhibition cycle at the gallery. It aims to reflect on the intimate experience of living with HIV through seven stations that combine installations, sculptures, graphics, and video performances.

Emerging from interdisciplinary research that blends poetry, narrative, performance, pharmacology, embroidery, digital technologies, and industrial materials, the installation also connects with ongoing debates surrounding public health, addressing topics such as sexual education, health rights and dignity, mental health, and the social memory of HIV.

Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla stated, ‘Though the exhibition originates from HIV, we all have bodies that live alongside pharmacology, chronic diseases (diabetes, cancer, hepatitis, autoimmune disorders, etc.), prolonged medicalization processes, experiences of bodily transition (hormones, surgeries, continuous treatments), and invisible or stigmatized pain.’

Originating from a Novel

‘Performance of Blood’ is based on the eponymous novel written by Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla, published in 2024.

In this context, the show offers an emotional and intimate journey through a series of works using materials connected to the clinical experience, including: 160 bottles of Antiretroviral Treatment (ART), 11,673 3D-printed pill replicas, 84 resin pill replicas, clocks, carbon arrows, among others.

A key aspect of the exhibition for the artist is accessibility and mediation, inviting the audience to engage through interaction with specially designed devices that will be activated through exercises implemented by the gallery’s mediation team and guest participants.

‘I would like to convey that this exhibition seeks to propose a shift towards understanding pain and the alienating experiences of illness. It encourages a perspective on life in general, and life with HIV as a space that encompasses love, dignity, dreams, and the future. It’s an invitation to envision a more just and less violent memory where a sick body does not equate to shame but to history,’ adds Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla.

Event Details

‘Performance of Blood’ by Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla
From March 7 to April 18, 2026
Monday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:45 PM.
Free Entry
Galería Gabriela Mistral
Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 1381, Santiago
(Metro Moneda station).

About the Artist: Kütral Vargas Huaiquimilla lives and works in Valdivia. A visual artist, writer, and Mapuche performer, she creates anti-colonial artistic practices that emphasize a contemporary perspective on Mapuche culture. She is the author of ‘Performance of Blood’ (2024), ‘Factory’ (2016), and ‘The Age of Trees’ (2017). She won the Art and Culture Prize in the Los Lagos Region in 2017 and received an Honorable Mention in Public Art (Municipal Young Art Prize 2024 & 2025). She is part of the 2024-25 Fellowship at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, New York. Her work has been presented in Chile, Latin America, and the United States, and she is currently represented by Judas Gallery in Chile.

The Citizen