Monterroso reinterprets the everyday objects of her Q’eqchi’ community, one of over 20 Maya groups in Guatemala, to highlight the multidimensional nature of Maya heritage. ‘Columna Vertebral Roja’ [Red Spinal Cord] is part of a series of sculptures of women’s garments from the Alta Verapaz region, where the artist is from. Celebrating women in her community and the spiritual dimensions of practices such as weaving, the sculpture echoes Mayan cosmology, where red symbolizes the East cardinal point and is considered the primary direction, as the one that sees the Sun rise. In Rokeb’ iq, the artist recites a poem she composed and asks the public to experience the materiality of her Q’eqchi’ language.

On 24 October Sandra Monterroso takes part in a conversation in the Cosmopolis discursive space.