TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary

Laura Anderson Barbata

Laura Anderson Barbata is a transdisciplinary artist based between New York and Mexico City. Since 1992, her practice has focused on social and community-based projects across regions such as the Venezuelan Amazon, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, and the United States.

Her most notable project, Transcommunality (2001–ongoing), involves collaboration with stilt dancers, artists, and artisans from Mexico, New York, and the Caribbean, and has been presented in institutions like MoMA in New York and the Museo Textil de Oaxaca in Mexico. Barbata is also known for The Repatriation of Julia Pastrana (2005–ongoing), which led to the repatriation of Pastrana’s remains to her birthplace in Mexico.

Her work is part of major collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, and Harvard Art Museums. She has contributed to publications like The New York Times and Art in America, and her scholarly work explores themes of art, activism, and community.

Barbata has received numerous honors, including the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Artist in Residence (2019) and the Anonymous Was a Woman Award (2016). She currently teaches at MIT’s Art, Culture, and Technology program and serves as Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion on the Board of Directors of the College Art Association.

More about her artistic practice: https://www.lauraandersonbarbata.com/

Related works in the collection

Laura Anderson Barbata
Ocean Calling, 2017