The Aldrich will be closed to the public May 26 through June 6 for installation of The Aldrich Decennial: I am what is around me.
Mikailwitl For Generaciones Perdidas was performed by artist Marcela Torres in The Aldrich’s Sculpture Garden. Commissioned by The Aldrich, this hour-long work marked the first live performance on the Museum’s redesigned grounds and invited audiences into a space of ceremony, dynamic movement, and sustained remembrance.
Performed by a collective of Mitotilliztli danzantes (Nahuatl Indigenous dancers), the piece blended traditional danza, sound, queer embodiment, reggaeton rhythms, and ceremonial elements—including a smoke ritual and flower altar—to honor lost lineages and the sacredness of land.
Torres wrote:
“In the Mikailwitl ceremony practiced by contemporary Mexican spiritual practitioners, we honor the children we have lost. In the performance Mikailwitl For Generaciones Perdidas we consider that our practice can be for those who were unborn. For the generations of people who were lost and never came into our physical fold due to colonial violence. While grieving our lost lineage this performance connects our rituals and those indigenous to this land. Although we are not ancestors by blood—we ask in our current bodies and known ceremony for a way to honor the Ramapough Lenape Nation and Lunaape Munsee Delaware Nation and the land itself through Mikailwitl.”
This evocative performance called forth a confluence of timelines—from the ancestral to the futuristic—and invited reflection on memory, existence, and the role of ritual in collective healing.
In lieu of purchasing a ticket, audience members were invited to bring a single flower or bouquet to contribute to the collective altar. This offering served as participation in the ritual space.
Top image: Marcela Torres, Mikailwitl For Generaciones Perdidas, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, September 27, 2025. Photo: Kaiya McCormick.
