David Rios Ferreira, curator of Magos de la Tierra (Magicians of the Land), along with the artists Orlando Estrada and Jacoub Reyes, leads a walking tour of the exhibition.
Estrada and Reyes present sculptures, assemblages, paintings, and wood carvings that explore inherited fractures shaped by migration and cultural disintegration. The artists reimagine the ideas presented in the landmark 1989 Centre Pompidou exhibition Magiciens de la Terre, which challenged Eurocentric frameworks. They probe diasporic consciousness and the experience of otherness within one’s own psyche, and they uncover universal patterns within buried histories, revealing how land, art, memory, and identity intertwine.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
David Rios Ferreira is a visual artist and independent curator with over 20 years of experience in the arts and culture sector. He has developed award-winning programs that nurture the next generation of creative professionals, including in his current role as director of the Young Learners program at The Museum of Modern Art. His curatorial work amplifies underrepresented narratives, providing a platform for voices, stories, and histories often overlooked in mainstream art discourse. He collaborates with artists who challenge preconceived notions of contemporary art and explore how diverse artistic practices and processes shape and transform the American imagination. His work aims to create space for new and imaginative ideas, approaches, and solutions that deepen our understanding of identity formation and development.
Rios Ferreira’s contributions to the museum field have been recognized through awards such as the Smithsonian Education Award, the Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship from the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, and the Education Committee Award for Excellence in Practice from the American Alliance of Museums. In 2020, Rios Ferreira was named one of the curators for Virtual NYC Curator Collections, a collaboration between N.Y.C. & Company, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
Generous support is provided by The Onda Foundation.