Donna Huanca’s immersive art world at Zuzeum Art Centre: UTOPIC CELLS

UTOPIC CELLS is a multi-sensory exhibition that combines painting, sculpture, video, sound, and scent into an immersive experience. Created specifically for Zuzeum, the exhibition reflects Huanca’s deep engagement with communal practice and ritual, transforming the gallery into a space for transcendence, meditation, and transformation. Featuring works from both the Zuzāns Collection and Peres Projects Gallery in Berlin, the exhibition highlights a unique collaboration between these two institutions.

Donna Huanca’s artistic practice is distinguished by its focus on the human body and natural materials. Her work employs oils, sand, and clay to create intimate dialogues between painting, sculpture, and performance. Inspired by Indigenous systems of communication where objects serve as multi-purpose signifiers, Huanca’s artworks function as repositories of knowledge, memory, and information. 

The exhibition space itself is transformed into a dynamic, multi-dimensional landscape. Huanca’s design introduces translucent, biodegradable membranes that redefine the architecture of Zuzeum. These “cells” sculpt the open-plan gallery into a series of intimate, evolving chambers. As visitors move through the exhibition, these membranes expand and contract, creating a fluid, ever-changing environment that reimagines their experience of time and space. This innovative approach fosters a close contact between inner and outer space. 

In her paintings, Huanca employs natural materials and vibrant, gestural layers of paint to evoke ceremonial and ritualistic practices. Her sculptures, made from a combination of natural fibers, synthetic hair, and other cultural artifacts, are coated in textured paint mixed with sand. These totemic forms create a tactile ecosystem that connects the various elements of the exhibition, reflecting the mineral patterns and pigments found in her paintings.

Sound and scent enrich the exhibition further. The earthy fragrance of palo santo, a sacred wood from South America, infuses the space, enhancing the immersive experience. The soundscapes and scents invite visitors to meditative, transcendental states while grounding them in their physical presence.

Accompanying UTOPIC CELLS is a diverse public program, including workshops, children’s activities, and guided tours, designed to engage audiences of all ages.

Experience Donna Huanca’s transformative art at Zuzeum Art Centre and celebrate the arrival of autumn with UTOPIC CELLS.