NMDCA News:
ALBUQUERQUE — The National Hispanic Cultural Center is thrilled to welcome a new Community Gallery exhibition that explores the role of memory and ancestral knowledge through the work of nine artists. The new exhibition, i thought i saw you yesterday, opens at Center on September 18.
“This exhibition reflects on the role grief, intimacy, celebration, land, food, and familial relationships play in forming and maintaining ancestral knowledge and memory,” said National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) Curator Hazel Batrezchavez. “I’m grateful to each of the artists we’ve worked with to help us tell these stories through a vibrant mix of artworks.”
i thought i saw you yesterday offers a platform for nine artists to interweave their memories and ancestral knowledge to create a dialogue between life cycles, food, land, place and the body. The exhibition features the work of nine artists with personal or familial ties to New Mexico: Amanda Dannáe Romero, Ashleigh Steele Chavez, Caroline Liu, Claudia Hermano, Esteban Ismael Durán, Jesus Miguel Avena, Joe Ramiro Garcia, Margarita Paz-Pedro, and Stephanie J. Wood. These artists work in mediums ranging from oil painting, to photography, to tinsmithing, and each takes a vibrant and poignant look at the role that memory can play through their art.
This exhibition is the first curated by Batrezchavez since they joined the Center’s staff in 2025. Through the process of conceptualizing the exhibition, Batrezchavez was inspired by the work of Dr. Karina Alma, who refers to memory as an imperative practice, a shared labor, and a call to action to fight for our memory as a fight for our lives in her book Central American Counterpoetics: Diaspora and Rememory.
i thought i saw you yesterday opens Friday, Sept. 18, alongside the newest iteration of Aquí Estamos, which will reopen the same day with a refreshed selection of artworks exploring catharsis through artworks in the permanent collection. As part of the grand reopening, NHCC is reorienting its Visual Art Museum to be more inviting to visitors and show off the contributions of New Mexico artists through its updated Community Gallery. Visitors can enjoy a free opening reception beginning at 5 p.m., Sept. 18, featuring music by DJ Estalactita.
More information about both exhibitions is available at nhccnm.org/museum/exhibitions.
More about the National Hispanic Cultural Center
The National Hispanic Cultural Center is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts, and humanities. The NHCC presents mission-related events throughout the year, some produced by its history, literary, educational, performing, and visual arts programs, and others by partnering with external organizations. Events take place at its 20-plus-acre campus, which includes a plaza, an art museum, a historically designated building, a library, and a genealogy center. The NHCC is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is further supported by the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation.
