Join Georgie Thompson, Assistant Curator of Exhibitions, IMMA, for an in-gallery conversation and walk-through of the current the exhibition, Cecilia Vicuña: Reverse Migration, a Poetic Journey, the first solo exhibition in Ireland by artist, poet, and activist Cecilia Vicuña. Moving through the galleries, Thompson, will explore selected works by Cecilia Vicuña (b. 1948, Santiago de Chile) that includes iconic installations, paintings, textiles, film, sound and performance works.

We will take a closer look at works which have been especially commissioned for the exhibition, including two large scale installation works Aran Quipu and Foraging Quipu, created with the active participation of local makers. Visitors will explore how Vicuña reimagines the ancient Andean system of knotted cords as a living language—connecting Indigenous knowledge, Irish craft traditions, and urgent ecological concerns. There will also be the chance to consider Vicuña’s discovery of her ancient Irish lineage and how this revelation shapes the exhibition’s narrative — a poetic reverse migration from the Andes to Ireland.

Other works to be discussed include the new sound work, Mourning Dialogue, considering how voice, birdsong, and spoken word activate the space and deepen the themes of ancestry, migration, and collective responsibility, throughout the exhibition.