Memorias Project 2026

The Memorias Project is a free two-day immersive art experience at dadaLAB based on Austin’s Mexican American communities.

Listen

The event will be a multimedia concert of original compositions and pre-recorded music performed by several musicians, including Claudia Chapa (opera), Corey Blais (cello), Joseph Choi (piano), and Pinche Juan (DJ).

See

While the musicians perform, digital and generative art animations co-developed by creative technologist David Sydiongco and Claudia E. Zapata will serve as a backdrop. These musical compositions, animations, and projections will draw on documentary footage and archival research grounded in East Austin community spaces, local collections, such as the Austin History Center, Preservation Austin, and Mexic-Arte Museum.

Interact

As part of the interactive theatre, all audience members will receive an informational zine and a prop they will engage with during the performance.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Claudia E. Zapata is a curator, writer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores Latinx and Chicanx visual culture, memory, identity, archives, and contemporary community-based artistic practices. They earned their Ph.D. in art history at Southern Methodist University’s RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space, and Culture program. They received their BA and MA in art history from the University of Texas at Austin, with a specialization in Maya art of the Classic period (250-900 CE). Zapata was the curator of exhibitions and programs at the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin. From 2018-2022, Claudia was the curatorial assistant of Latinx art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, working on the award-winning exhibition, ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965-Now (2020) and curating Radical Histories: Chicanx Prints from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. They co-founded the Latinx art project Puro Chingón Collective in 2012. From 2024-25, they illustrated Arborama! A Tree Game showcasing the Central Texas native trees, climate-resilient trees, and other tree species with the City of Austin’s Urban Forest Program. In 2023, the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, selected Zapata as its inaugural Associate Curator of Latino Art. In 2026, their play, “Altares,” was selected as part of the 2026 Austin Latinx New Play Festival presented by Teatro Vivo.

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