French artist Marlene Huissoud is collaborating with a sacred species of endangered bees for an experimental living exhibition at Mexico’s SFER IK Museion.
Huissoud, an environmentalist and the daughter of a beekeeper, has invited a community of stingless bees native to the Yucatan peninsula to live inside the artwork.
Titled Mamá, the work includes a sculpted beehive installed in the centre of the museum’s main gallery. It was created using locally-sourced bejuco and finished with dung, ash, clay and a vegetal wax extracted from native cacti.
The endangered bees, considered sacred in Mayan culture, will serve as the co-creators of the work, building out the sculpture and populating the exhibition space.
Opening on 5 November, Mamá depends on the bees’ engagement with the installation and surrounding environment.
Six empty satellite hives designed by Huissoud will be installed around the museum to encourage the bees to travel throughout the arts complex.
“It is our responsibility to begin rethinking our coexistence with other species,” said Huissoud.
“This project celebrates the importance of the sacred Mayan bees, the Meliponas, and what we can learn together on a more peaceful journey with the natural world.”
Like Azuma Makoto’s floral sculpture Mexx, which will remain on view throughout Mamá, the exhibition “promotes a dialogue between the worlds inside and outside the museum”, said SFER IK.
Stingless bees native to the Yucatan peninsula
“This exhibition could not take place in any other context,” said Marcello Dantas, artistic director of SFER IK.
“For this kind of peaceful interaction to occur, it comes down to the intersection of geography and architecture. It would be impossible to host bees in an air-conditioned museum in a western metropolis,” he added.
“Only here at SFER IK – in this sacred species’ homeland at an institution built for nature – can we foster and experience this kind of harmony.”
Founded in 2019, SFER IK is an interdisciplinary arts centre located at Azulik Uh May, an eco-resort and cultural hub within the Mayan jungle.
The museum was built to integrate the nature that surrounds it, with the design weaving in native trees, vines and natural wildlife.
Images: Azulik Uh May
