2022 was the year of Cecilia Vicuña. In April, the Chilean artist was honoured with the 59th Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and she was the subject of a major show at New York’s Guggenheim. In October, this series of triumphs culminated in Brain Forest Quipu, the Chilean artist's epic Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern.
Brain Forest Quipu, which has just been named Best Art Installation in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023, is a majestic, two-sculpture installation in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall that blends fibre art and ancient South American communication systems to explore ecology, community and social justice.
In an interview last year, Vicuña explained how the ‘very visceral, fantastic response’ to her monumental installation, Quipu Womb (2017), which debuted at Documenta 14 and was recently acquired by Tate, was part of the reason she was selected for the coveted Turbine Hall commission.
Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern: Brain Forest Quipu, by Cecilia Vicuña
As Frances Morris, director of Tate Modern explained last year, ‘Vicuña has been an inspirational figure for half a century, championing concerns of ecology, community and social justice which grow ever more urgent today. Her radical textile sculptures combine pressing political messages with stunning visual form, creating a truly unforgettable experience for the viewer – one that resonates with and connects audiences all around the world. Recognition of Vicuña's powerful work is long overdue and I'm thrilled that she'll be bringing fibre art to the heart of Tate Modern for the first time.’
Given Vicuña's historical entanglement with London, where she lived in political exile in the 1970s, her Tate commission offers a sense of coming full circle. ‘I have a love for London, where everything was so difficult and beautiful at the same time. The Turbine Hall, in particular, feels like a park, like a public space, and people use it that way. I’m fascinated by that because that’s the origin of my art,’ she told us. ‘Whatever I do in the Turbine Hall will continue that spirit of complete fluidity of the public space. Even though it’s inside the museum, people take it differently, perhaps because it’s an industrial space, it belongs to everybody. Experiencing – not telling, but sensing, feeling – is the most powerful way of transmission.’
Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern: Brain Forest Quipu, by Cecilia Vicuña
Cecilia Vicuña, Brain Forest Quipu, Hyundai Commission, until 16 April 2023, Tate Modern, London, tate.org.uk
The winners of the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023 are revealed in the February 2023 issue, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Rosewood Miyakojima: ‘Japan, but not as most people know it’Rosewood Miyakojima offers a smooth balance of intuitive Japanese ‘omotenashi’ fused with Rosewood’s luxury edge
-
Thrilling, demanding, grotesque and theatrical: what to see at Berlin Gallery WeekendBerlin Gallery Weekend is back for 2025, and with over 50 galleries taking part, there's lots to see
-
A first look inside the new Oxford Street Ikea. Spoiler: blue bags and meatballs are includedThe new Oxford Street Ikea opens tomorrow (1 May), giving Londoners access to the Swedish furniture brand right in the heart of the city
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate ModernThe 42-panel quilt, which commemorates those affected by HIV and AIDS, will be displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in June 2025
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyersAn exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellionThe new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in LondonThrough use of ceramics and textiles, British artist Jonathan Baldock creates a magical and immersive exhibition at ‘0.1%’ at London's Mithraum Bloomberg Space
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: Tate Modern’s cultural shapeshifting takes the art prizeWe sing the praises of Tate Modern for celebrating the artists that are drawn to other worlds – watch our video, where Wallpaper’s Hannah Silver gives the backstory
