Warivi Exhibition Opening: Art, Stories and Meeting the Artists

Zeltzin Nieto Mata, known as Zeltzin Nahual, is a visual and textile artist and seamstress. Of Nahua-Mazatec heritage, she studied art and design at ENES Morelia (UNAM). Her work moves across disciplines such as drawing, illustration, performance, audiovisual media, and music. Independently, she has researched a wide range of traditional and contemporary textile techniques, with particular attention to the study and experimentation with dye plants from Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón and with artisanal practices such as spindle spinning (malacate), embroidery, and backstrap loom weaving, applied to the visual arts.

Being the daughter of Indigenous migrants in the city shaped her line of research and artistic production. For this reason, she builds her work from the perspective of both the Mazatec world and the mestizo world, addressing themes such as Indigenous identity, territory, and the violence exercised against women in contemporary Mexican society.

She currently lives and moves between Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, Villa de Etla, and Mexico City, places where she also works as a seamstress to generate the resources necessary to continue creating art independently and, at times, in collaboration with other artists.

She has facilitated art workshops primarily for women in various communities in Oaxaca, Michoacán, and Chiapas. In 2024, she directed the documentary Here Live Their Hands, an audiovisual work about the Ngixó huipil (Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón). She has participated in group exhibitions, fairs, and art and textile gatherings in Mexico City, Argentina, Taiwan, the United States, Colombia, and Guatemala.

Vari, of the Puyanawa Indigenous People, is one of the main female leaders of her ethnic group. An artist, mother, and woman, she has dedicated her life to the cultural and spiritual strengthening of her community since the year 2000.

With a degree in Indigenous Education and an emphasis on languages and arts from UFAC, Vari is also committed to defending and protecting her people's rights, working both inside and outside their territory. At the Ewe Pīdu Center, where she lives with her family, she develops important reforestation projects and raises awareness about land preservation and food sustainability.

In addition, Vari is one of the founders of then Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference. She recorded the album "Dimanã Ewe Yubabu" with her community and Puwe Puyanawa, and she is currently the vice president of the Puwe Institute.

Daiara Tukano is an artist, curator, teacher, and activist of the Tukano – Yé'pá Mahsã Indigenous People, belonging to the Eremiri Hãusiro Parameri clan from the Upper Rio Negro. Born in São Paulo, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts and a master’s degree in Human Rights from UnB, where her research focuses on the right to memory and truth of Indigenous Peoples.

She was the coordinator of Rádio Yandê (2015–2021) and is a founding member of the Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference. Her artistic career includes participation in the 34th São Paulo Biennial and receiving awards such as the PIPA Online 2021 and the Prince Claus Seed Awards in 2022. Her works are part of the collections of major institutions, including the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, MASP, Museo delle Civilità (Rome), and the Mauritshuis Museum (The Hague).

She is currently a member of the National Council of Culture (CNPC/MINC) for the 2022–2025 term, representing Indigenous Peoples. Daiara also studies her people’s culture, history, and spirituality together with her family.