m a s a – is a food performance by Llanes & Rivadeneyra, exploring corn as both a cultural and material connector between their native Mexico and their current home in Iceland. Rooted in memory, migration, and communal eating, this experience invites reflection on presence as an essential element of hospitality and nourishment—where the edible becomes poetic. m a s a celebrates locality and belonging, creating a space where cultural histories, ritual, knowledge, and conviviality converge.
Hugo Llanes (b.1990, México) is a visual artist based in Reykjavík, Iceland whose’ practice involves the study of political and social cracks and the aesthetics that erupts from them. In his participatory project Masa, Llanes explores corn as a cultural and material connector between his native Mexico and his current home in Iceland. Collaborating with chef Catherine Rivadeneyra Bello, Llanes hosts a communal dinner that centers on corn as both ingredient and symbol, inviting guests to engage in a sensory experience rooted in memory, migration, and shared nourishment. Alongside the dinner, a playful and tactile children’s workshop invites young participants to sculpt with corn-based dough, shaping their own creations which are then fried and taken home. Blending performance, food, and community, Llanes’ project becomes a celebration of locality and belonging, offering a space where cultural histories and embodied knowledge converge across age and place.
