Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa: De espiral en espiral
Performance at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea / CCB, Lisbon
20 September 2025
As part of Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa’s solo exhibition at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (May 28-October 20, 2025), the artist will present a new performance that continues his exploration of symbolism, memory, and cultural narrative.
De espiral en espiral is a performance that intertwines European colonial history with the intimate memories of Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa’s family lineage, through a revisitation of the production and uses of playing cards ‘naipes’. The playing card monopoly became one of the main sources of revenue for the Spanish Monarchy, with its manufacturing tightly controlled by the Crown, which sought to eradicate forgery and its use in gambling. In the hands of the women in Ramírez-Figueroa’s family, however, the cards became something else: a tool for divinatory reading and a means of economic survival.
This intimate dimension transforms the symbolic weight of the cards as colonial artifacts into alternative uses and forms of knowledge, summoning a history that is both collective and deeply personal. In his practice, Ramírez-Figueroa dismantles hierarchies between official history and oral traditions, revealing the folds where the political and the affective converge.
Based on this symbolic system, the artist creates an original costume that functions simultaneously as a sculptural object and a performative element. Each garment is composed of various cards, meticulously hand-embroidered by Guatemalan weavers, establishing a direct connection with the artist’s heritage and indigenous artisanal knowledge.
More information about the exhibition and the artist
De espiral en espiral, 2025
A performance by Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, on the occasion of his exhibition Light Spectra at the Museo Reina Sofía
Organized by: MNCARS and the TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation
Produced by: TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation and BoCA - Biennial of Contemporary Arts, with the support of Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City, Mendes Wood DM São Paulo/Brussels/Paris/New York, Proyectos Ultravioleta Guatemala City, and Sies + Höke Düsseldorf, and Performance Art Museum.