Maruch Sántiz Gómez. Beliefs of our ancestors

Maruch Santíz Gómez or María Santíz Gómez (San Juan Chamula, 1975) is a photographer, writer, embroidery and textile designer, Tzotzil actress. In this show she presents a selection of works that belong to the series Creencias de nuestros antepasados (Beliefs of our ancestors), initiated in 1994 after her participation in a call by La Casa del Escritor de San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas. This series brings together images that dialogue with her community's cultural roots and traditions.

Maruch Sántiz Gómez conducted interviews and photographic records that collect the beliefs transmitted by oral tradition. Sántiz Gómez reflects on the identity and beliefs that are permeated by diverse ancestral knowledge of San Juan Chamula and the communities surrounding this territory. Each of the photographs contains a way of understanding the world from the distinctive context of the groups, their objects, and a gaze that goes beyond the documental. These works abstract references of minimalist aesthetic composition and abstraction. In this way, the simple becomes significant.

Everyday elements such as animals, natural environments and the domestic scene are the protagonists of the photography. These acquire an aesthetic force in addition to their symbolic relevance that comes from the native peoples. Since the early nineties, the artist has created photographs with texts that revitalize the native languages and the value of the Tzotzil language. Through words, she not only captures the ideas of her community, but also a universe of knowledge that is condensed in these images that go beyond the ordinary.

The exhibition will be open to the public until January 5, 2026.