Unraveling Textile Bodies: The Dance of the Hummingbird Ndukun

The Open Seam: Torbellino 1—The Dance of the Hummingbird (Ndukun) is a performance by Yohanna M. Roa inspired by a Kogi account of a fifth race—the hummingbird—that transcends color and borders to carry messages of peace. Drawing from torbellino, a dance shaped by Indigenous rhythms and Spanish influences, the performance uses movement and historiographical textile sculptures to explore the fluid intersections of race, nationality, gender, and culture, making visible forgotten and violated bodies. The performance will be followed by a conversation with the artist, moderated by Amalia Uribe Guardiola, on trans- (cultural / border / national / disciplinary) practices in her work, the mechanism of the veil, as well as the unmaking of the book as a colonial device. Refreshments and drinks will be provided at the end.

Yohanna M Roa is a transcultural-feminist visual artist, art historian, and art critic based in New York. She is represented by Ana Tejeda Gallery. She holds a Ph.D. in the History and Critical Theories of Art program from the Universidad Iberoamericana, México, where she graduated Cum Laude with her thesis. She holds a MA in Women and Gender Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center, a MA in Visual Arts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and a Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts from the Departmental Institute of Fine Arts of Colombia, a meritorious thesis. Her most recent solo performance occurred at The Thyssen Bornemisza Museum in Madrid in 2024. Her artistic work has been studied, published, and discussed by various scholars and publications, including Karen Cordero for the 109th CAA Annual Conference in 2021, in "Revaluing Feminine Trajectories and Stitching Alternative Genealogies in the Work of Yohanna Roa," and Natalia De la Rosa in "Yohanna M Roa, Textile Woman," published in Casa del Tiempo Magazine, among others. Yohanna has been recognized with the Young Creators Award from the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, and her work is part of the permanent collection of the Tlatelolco Cultural Center in Mexico City. She collaborates regularly with Art Nexus and WhiteHot Magazine. She has had lectures at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art of Mexico and the Latin American Public Art Seminar. In addition, she has served as a jury member for events such as Wienwoche: Festival of Art and Activism in Vienna, Austria, in 2024, the Money for Women Grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund in the USA in 2024 and Liu Shiming Art Foundation Grants for Artists, 2024, NYC.

The conversation will be held with Amalia Uribe Guardiola: a Colombian anthropologist currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement at New York University (NYU). Her work sits at the intersection of migration, craft and oral history, with a particular focus on Latinx and Caribbean communities in New York. She has curated and supported exhibitions, co-organized public programs, and led community-centered textile workshops in Honda and Mompox, Colombia, and New York City. She currently serves as a Craft Archive Fellow at the Center for Craft, and coordinates the Colombian Studies Initiative at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies of NYU.

Prior registration is required for admission to this event. Seating capacity is limited, and admittance will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Registration does not guarantee a seat, so attendees are advised to arrive early.

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