Tino Sehgal in conversation with Viviana Kuri
On the occasion of Tino Sehgal’s exhibition at EstaciónMAZ, his first solo show in Mexico, a conversation will take place between the artist and curator Viviana Kuri Haddad at the Juan José Arreola Auditorium of the MAZ. The dialogue will address Sehgal’s radical practice, widely recognized internationally for shifting artistic production from the creation of objects toward human interaction through constructed situations.
Tino Sehgal is an artist of German and Indian descent, based in Berlin. Recognized as one of the most important artists of his generation, his critical acclaim derives from a radical artistic practice that takes the form of “constructed situations”: live encounters between visitors and those who enact the work. Their ephemeral beauty lies in the fleeting specificity of the encounter, in which performers often engage visitors through their active participation in the construction of the piece. The abandonment of material production in favor of lived experience is achieved with a sensitivity to classical considerations of form, composition, and space, grounded not only in the history of dance but also in traditions of painting and sculpture.
His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, most recently at De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands (2025); Centro Botín, Santander (2023); Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig; Tai Kwun, Hong Kong (2021); Kunsten, Aalborg, Denmark (2018); Fondation Beyeler, Switzerland (2017); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2015); Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2015); CCB, Rio de Janeiro (2014); Pinacoteca, São Paulo (2014); Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013); the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London (2012); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); and Kunsthaus Bregenz (2006). Sehgal has participated in major group exhibitions such as the 12th Havana Biennial (2015); the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); the 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012); the 8th Gwangju Biennale (2010); the 4th Berlin Biennale (2006); the 51st Venice Biennale (2005); and Manifesta 4, Frankfurt (2002). He was awarded the Golden Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013).
Viviana Kuri Haddad is Director and Chief Curator of the Museo de Arte de Zapopan. She holds an MA in History from the University of Chicago. Her curatorial projects include Fuerza Bruta by Jose Dávila; Los de abajo by Mark Bradford; año del usagi by Leiko Ikemura; Living in Limbo and Dreaming of Paradise by Marcel Dzama; Back and Beyond by Alicja Kwade and Gregor Hildebrandt; I Returned to Being a Vessel, I Returned to Being an Animal, I Returned to Being a Plant, I Returned to Being Time by RojoNegro (Noé Martínez and María Sosa); Hierba mala by Hilda Palafox; The House We Invented: Contemporary Art from Guadalajara, a group exhibition commissioned by Oklahoma Contemporary; Cerámica Suro. A Story of Collaboration, Production, and Collecting in Contemporary Art, presented at Dallas Contemporary and later at La Casa de México in Spain; and This Will Save Us by Ghada Amer at the Jardines del Turia, Valencia. In 2024, she oversaw the opening of EstaciónMAZ, the second venue of the MAZ, assuming the directorship of both spaces.
— MAZ