Image: Gustavo Alvarez, 2015. Photo: Edgar Pérez

April 11 at 8pm & April 12 at 5pm, 2025  
Torre Andrade : Florencia 102, Andrade, León de los Aldama, Guanajuato, Mexico
Free

Artists: Carlos Cervantes (MEX), Gabrielle Desrosiers (CAN), Odette Fajardo (MEX), Marie-Claude Gendron (CAN), Diana Olalde (MEX), Antonio Olvera (MEX), Joliz Dela Peña (PHL/CAN), Juan David Molina Velasco (COL/ CAN). 

VIVA! is proud to present its first project abroad. Developed and produced in partnership with Cosmos Factory, the programming unfolds over two evenings at Torre Andrade, a cultural centre dedicated to experimental contemporary practices that is located in the heart of the city of Léon in the region of Guanajuato, Mexico. 

This programming initiative is part of the InSitu series. Developed by curator Gustavo Alvarez, these nomadic performance events enable dialogue between Mexican artists and international visitors. For this specific event at Torre Andrade, four Quebec artists will travel to Léon to present solo performances alongside a selection of intergenerational Mexican artists. 

Supported by the CALQ, this initiative is part of a larger exchange project between Mexico and Quebec, developed in partnership with Le Lieu (Quebec) and Mexican curator Gustavo Alvarez. Following the presentations in León, Gustavo and the four Quebec artists will travel to the village of Norogachi, Chihuahua, to take part in a creation residency hosted as part of the Performancear O Morrir festival. The fruits of their artistic research will be presented in Quebec in the autumn.  

We’re delighted to be able to carry out this project, which will enable us to further our support for Quebec artists, while extending our field of activity beyond the usual borders.

Artists:

Carlos Cervantes, Obnubilacion. Photo: Karina Ramirez 

Carlos Cervantes (León, MEX)
Emerging from the depths of the iconic Torre Andrade in the city of León, Guanajuato, Carlos Cervantes (1996) developed his approach to performance in a workshop with Gustavo Álvarez and, since then, he has been experimenting with actions. His performances are characterized by their sculptural qualities, and his interest in building often expands the scope of his projects into the realm of installation. Concerned and motivated by issues related to sustainable mobility, he often creates artworks that have an activist quality.

He has presented his work in various cultural events and local festivals such as Decrépito, Indecente, and Cuerpxs Territorixs, and in the International Performance Meeting “Nolohagaustedmismo” (2023, Aguascalientes). He also participated in the first art biennial of León. Finally, he is a member of the artistic collective Perro Pateado, who supported the production of his video performance Autoabismo, which was included in the virtual exhibition of the International Festival of Performance-Art and Audiovisual Formats (2024).

Gabrielle Desrosiers, La solitude d’une étoile filante. Photo: Etienne Boisvert

Gabrielle Desrosiers (Magdalen Islands, CAN) 
Gabrielle Desrosiers is a visual artist and cultural worker. She holds a diploma in stage design from the École de théâtre de Saint-Hyacinthe (2007), and a bachelor of fine arts from Concordia University in Montreal (2018) and passed through the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem (2017). Born just outside Quebec City in 1986, she has lived in various regions of the province of Quebec and currently resides in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. 

Her performance art work has been presented in Montreal at Centre des arts actuels Skol (2016), Circa art actuel (2018), the Darling Foundry as part of the Rencontre interuniversitaire de performance actuelle (2019) and the Festival d’art performatif de Trois-Rivières (2019). She has taken part in workshops facilitated by Laurence Beaudoin-Morin, John Court, Victoria Stanton, Francis O’shaughnessy and Sylvie Tourangeau, among others. Gabrielle was involved in the collective Les autoworshops au terrain vague (2016-2021). She is particularly interested in laboratory-type initiatives in action art.

Odette Fajardo, Poema por la muerta de mi padre. Photo: Patricia Cadavid

Odette Fajardo (Cholula, MEX) 
Currently based in Cholula, Odette Fajardo (1989) is a visual artist and performer. She holds a PhD with an international distinction in Art: Research and Production from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Through the use of performative autoethnography, Odette’s artistic practice addresses social issues arising from the intersection of capitalism, patriarchy and colonialism. Her artworks focus on the creation of communicative, creative, and affective bridges, which allow her to move between intimate gestures and difficult concepts such as migration and identity.

She has presented her work internationally in countries such as Argentina, Germany, Austria, Colombia, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, and the USA. She was also selected to participate in festivals such as Dislocada (USA, 2023), Latidoamericano de performance, (Online, 2020), Se Alquilafuturo (Spain, 2019), Feministisches Performance-Festival (Germany, 2017), and the II International Performance Biennial Horas Perdidas (Monterrey, 2014), among many others.

Marie-Claude Gendron, Humains très Humains. Photo: Sandra Sunshine

Marie-Claude Gendron (Montréal, CAN)
Using a multidisciplinary approach to action art, visual arts and media arts, Marie-Claude Gendron attempts to identify the patterns of a community that is constantly being updated in the spheres of the public, the private and the intimate. She considers the potential of the archive and the ruin in action and in space, sometimes presenting them as ‘tableaux vivants’. Her projects are in the realm of raw commemoration, highlighting the inevitable transformation of what already exists. She is interested in the different forms of poetry in action, and how they are brought to life through the body and the written word.

Marie-Claude Gendron is involved in the organisation of self-managed performance events and exhibitions and events in Quebec, France, Brazil, Italy, Northern Ireland, Thailand, Mexico Italy, Northern Ireland, Thailand, Mexico, Switzerland and Norway. Her work has been presented in solo and group shows locally, nationally and internationally.She holds a bachelor’s degree in visual and media arts from Université Laval and a master’s degree in visual and media arts from Université du Québec à Montréal.

Diana Olalde, la parienta inesperada. Photo: screenshot

Diana Olalde (Mexico City, MEX)
Born in 1973, Diana Olalde is a performance artist, mother, and “lisiadora” (a term she uses to describe herself in relation to disability). Her practice has spanned decades and includes action art, performance, sound and other transdisciplinary approaches to making. She has presented her work in numerous international festivals including NIPAF Asia Performance Art Series (Japan, 2005), XIII International Performance Showcase: Controlled Accidents at Ex Teresa Arte Actual (Mexico City, 2008), Inter0 at the Carrillo Gil Art Museum (Mexico City, 2009), Rencontre Internationale D’Art-Performance (Canada, 2010), and the Promptus Brazil-Mexico Exchange (2014). In Mexico, she also participated in the 3rd Performance Festival Horas Perdidas (2010), Festival Ala Blanca: Partituras Visuales Ehrenberginas (2011), Festival de Performance Corpórea (2015, 2020 y 2022), Devenires: Meeting on Feminisms, Race, and Artistic Practices (2020), Más allá del más afuera (2021), and the International Congress on Caring for Our Common Home. She is the founder of the collectives 3tone and Lombricomposta, and was also a member of PerformaXXXXXXXX. 

Antonio Olvera, Abandono. Photo: Saturnina Urbina 

Antonio Olvera (Tijuana, MEX)
Antonio Olvera graduated with a bachelor of Fine Arts from the Autonomous University of Coahuila in 2013. The following year, he successfully completed a diploma in Contemporary Art Practices from the same institution. While his work expands into other disciplines such as painting and photography, it always maintains a dialogue with his body, and exists in synchronicity with his environment. He is a devourer of images who feel attracted to blurring the limits between one medium and another.

His actions have been presented in various events in Mexico, including In Situ Performance Chihuahua (2019, Chihuahua), and the Binational Congress of the North-South Borders of Performance and Living Arts (2023, Tijuana). He has also participated in numerous national exhibitions, including Segar el Mar Museo Palacio de los Poderes (2021, Guanajuato) as part of the 49th Edition of the International Cervantino Festival. He participated in the J.A. Monroy biennial (November 2021 – January 2022) and, in 2023, was selected for the Ecran video performance exhibition Cycles of actionism in video in Cochabamba, Bolivia. 

Joliz Dela Peña, Kebek. Photo: Andy Tran

Joliz Dela Peña (PHL/ Montréal, CAN)
Joliz Dela Peña, also known as JDP 2009, is a self-taught interdisciplinary artist and a cultural worker born in the Philippines, now based in Tiohtià: ke/Montreal. Intimate connection to memories, identity, and immigration are recurring themes in Dela Peña’s practice. Through performance accompanied by installations, she pursues to relive realities, explore its complexities, and translate invisible tension/s into various visual and tactile qualities. Shown in her work, she attempts to translate fragmented memories from her personal life as first-generation immigrant, drawing also from intersecting experiences, in order to construct an emphatic perspective. Her aim extends beyond mere contemplation, encompassing a dimension of activism. Dela Peña’s work has been presented at WIP Gallery (The ‘i’ Word, 2020), the 4th edition of Artch (2021), the 14th edition of the Art Souterrain Festival (Voies/Voix Résilientes, 2022), OFFTA (2023), and Art-in-the-Open PEI (2023). Most recently, Dela Peña presented her work in the Bas Saint Laurent region with Caravanserail (VIBRANCE&VACARME, 2024).

Juan David Molina Velasco, Tension Intention. Photo: Samah Saidi

Juan David Molina Velasco ( COL/ Quebec City, CAN)
Originally from Colombia, I was uprooted by violence. I got to know my native culture through childhood memories and distant stories. I integrated and had to learn a new language. I grew up navigating two worlds, not knowing how to define myself, not knowing what to identify with.

From Jonquière to Gatineau to Quebec City, I explored the performing and visual arts at Cégep de l’Outaouais. I went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in visual and media arts and a master’s degree in visual arts from Université Laval.

Here is elsewhere.
I’m not from here, but I don’t belong anywhere else.