"Relatos Textiles I" inaugurates an initiative led by Mozhdeh Matin that explores territory, affective memory and texture of place in various textile communities of Peru. This proposal emerges after a decade in which Matin has been cultivating a network of approximately 200 artisans in the regions of Cajamarca, Huancavelica, Puerto Maldonado, Arequipa, and Lima, whose textile techniques and knowledges form fundamental pillars of her brand's collections.
In this first chapter, “Relatos Textiles I” focuses on Cajamarca, a community in the region where Matin was born and spent her early years. As an emerging designer and artist, she frequently returned to Cajamarca to forge creative collaborative relationships with the territory of her formative years. Matin approaches the region with both familiarity and distance—connected through her origins yet returning with a perspective shaped by her experiences and working relationships in other regions of the country.
From Cajamarca there is a 3 hours walk to get to the sister's houses
"Relatos Textiles I" functions as a sensorial snapshot of Matin's memories and connections with San Miguel. It weaves together connections between her own artistic sensibility, the sensibilities of the artists she collaborates with, and those of visiting artists like photographer Marte del Pozo with whom she travelled to Cajamarca in October 2024.
Beyond showcasing only garments and textile pieces "Relatos Textiles I" brings together diverse artistic voices and mediums in a multidisciplinary gathering to create a space for considering how we encounter and pay attention to the textures of place through food, music, textiles and photography.
“Relatos Textiles I” invites Lima audiences to consider how cultural decentralization includes not just behind the scenes collaborations and showcasing work from beyond the capital, but through reimagining what it means to be a visitor. The project offers one experiment towards this goal, suggesting that the visitor role carries both ethical responsibilities—attentive listening, respect for local knowledges, fair valuation of artisan labour —as well as unique creative potential. By positioning Lima-based artists and audiences as visitors, the project proposes that decentralization flourishes when visitors embrace both the humility and the heightened awareness their position affords—finding in the visitor's role a way to see, hear, touch, and taste place with renewed sensitivity that complements rather than overshadows local perspectives.
Susie Quillinan
Exhibition view at Mozhdeh's studio in Lima
IMAGES
Marte del Pozo