Cartografía de lo Efímero/ Mapping the Ephemeral brings together the works of Yiyo Tirado-Rivera (Puerto Rico) and Lucas Pereira Elias (Brazil). At its core, the exhibition explores and questions how the notion of a territory — whether physical, political, intellectual, or symbolic — is in a constant state of flux and transformation. Both artists, through their respective media, underscore how a sense of collective identity and memory helps build, change, and even destroy the spaces we inhabit.

Tirado-Rivera focuses on the construction of political, symbolic, and aesthetic territories in the Caribbean, specifically in Puerto Rico. Through sculpture, painting, photography, and installation, he critiques colonialism and tourism as defining aspects of the region’s identity. Using domestic objects like books and plungers as tools for subversion, Tirado challenges hegemonic structures and redefines the viewer’s understanding of Caribbean culture.

Elias, through watercolor, oil painting, and installation, poetically maps his native southern Brazil. Drawing from personal and collective memory, his work explores themes of identity, history, and politics. Inspired by the writings of Paulo Freire, his series Esperançar uses the symbol of the public school chair to address universal narratives of hope, transformation, and resilience across Brazil’s diverse landscapes.

This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the fragility of the territories we inhabit and how our experiences shape and sometimes erase these ephemeral landscapes. Both artists present “territory” as a dynamic, evolving construct—constantly undergoing transformation, growth, or decay.