RISHPA TIGRASHPA

Inty Muenala Vega and Yauri Muenala Vega

Rishpa Tigrashpa is an installation that emerges from a process of linguistic restitution within the Kichwa community of Ecuador. Rooted in the artist’s family history—when his brother Inty was denied the right to bear his Kichwa name at birth—the work reflects on the political and spiritual dimensions of naming as an act of self-determination. Inty, meaning “Sun,” was only legally recognized years later, transforming personal rectification into collective affirmation.

The installation consists of eighteen adapted flying shuttles, with handwoven bracelets that function as devices carrying the names, memories, and testimonies of three generations of Kichwa individuals. These woven elements evoke textile knowledge as a living technology—an archive encoded in thread, rhythm, and gesture.

The title Rishpa Tigrashpa refers to the back-and-forth motion of the loom, echoing the Kichwa principle Kawsanakunchik—“We have lived, we live, and we will live.” Through this cyclical movement, the installation proposes weaving as both method and metaphor: connecting past, present, and future; art and life. Here, ancestral textile practice becomes a medium for reclaiming language, restoring dignity, and asserting continuity in the face of colonial erasure.

Inty Muenala Vega Yauri Muenala Vega

Inty Muenala Vega

― Artist

Inty Muenala Vega is a visual artist, Mindalae, and cultural manager. Studied Art at the Central University of Ecuador (1995–1999). A multidisciplinary artist, he frequently works with painting, video art, ritual performance, and drawing. He explores the spiritual relationships of Andean thought with symbolic geometry, eco-social issues, identity, and migration. He participated in the 10th International Biennial of Cuenca in 2009. He has exhibited in Peru, the United States, France, Italy, and Russia. He has received awards at the Intercontinental Biennial of Indigenous, Ancestral, and Millennial Art and has collaborated in organizing some of its editions. He is a founding member of the art collective Cosas Finas.

Yauri Muenala Vega

― Artist

Yauri Muenala Vega is a visual artist, educator, and currently a cultural activator at Yachay Tech University. He has served as a research professor at the National University of Education (UNAE). He holds a Master’s degree in Visual Anthropology from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO). He won 2nd place at the 63rd edition (2024) of the Salón de Julio. He was also a winner in the arts research category of the Mariano Aguilera National Prize (2022–2023). In his artistic practice, he explores the connections between craftsmanship and intercultural collaborative practices. He has presented various artistic and cultural interventions in countries such as Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, the United States, Italy, France, and Ecuador. He is the author of the book *Kikinkunawan Visualidades Comunes*.

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