On Matriarchal Lineage and Memory – A Walkthrough of Julia Isídrez: Mud is Everything with Sophia Mena
This Autumn we are presenting the first international institutional solo exhibition by the Paraguayan artist Julia Isídrez. We’re thrilled to be joined by Sophia Mena, founder of Somos The Podcast, which centres, celebrates and archives the lives and stories of creatives and changemakers from the Latin American and Abya Yala diaspora in the UK for a walkthrough of the exhibition focusing on matriarchal lineage and memory
Julia Isídrez learned to work clay from her mother, Juana Marta Rodas, who learned from her own mother before her in a lineage of Guaraní ceramic knowledge passed from hand to hand across generations. This shared knowledge of making is embodied in the tacuara, a shaping tool handed down as a physical symbol of transmitted skill. In this walkthrough, Sophia Mena will take that inheritance as a starting point rather than an endpoint, a way into a wider, shared question: how is memory, wisdom and skill passed down through generations of women, and how does that passing down shape the way we create and build community?
Sophia brings her own stories of women, jewellers, entrepreneurs and storytellers across generations and disciplines into conversation with Isídrez's, looking closely at her chimeric ceramics to ask what gets carried forward whole, and what gets reworked, softened or reshaped along the way, much like the clay itself.
Expect an informal, participatory session: close looking, open discussion, and space to reflect on the lineages shaping your own creative or community practice. No prior knowledge needed, just curiosity.
Sophia Mena (she/her) is a multilingual and multicultural artist, creator and podcast host. Specialising in community centred, impact-driven storytelling, as part of the Latin American diaspora in Europe she is the founder of Somos The Podcast - the first UK podcast to archive the lives and existence of Latino artists and creatives globally.
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Access
Find information about getting here and our building access and facilities here.
This event will be held in Gallery 1. Please meet at Reception at the start time.
Walking around the galleries is slow paced and kept to a minimum; gallery stools are available. Speakers will use a microphone. This event is wheelchair accessible.
If you have any questions around access or have specific access requirements we can accommodate, please get in touch with us by emailing info@nottinghamcontemporary.org or phoning 0115 948 9750.