Mercedes Azpilicueta — CaccHho CucchhA, 2025

CaccHho CucchhA takes its title from two Argentinian Spanish words. Cacho means a small fragment, something left over, while cucha refers to a dog’s kennel or shelter. Mercedes Azpilicueta uses these ideas to shape a colourful installation where textiles, costumes and sculptural forms are activated through play and visitors’ interactions with the works. A large jacquard tapestry, with woven openings, pockets and trailing warp threads, brings together drawings, photographs and archival images of children, birds and imaginary creatures. Costumes and musical instruments extend this world through the mediaeval myth of the barnacle goose, once believed to emerge from barnacles attached to driftwood. Simple structures adapted from architect Aldo van Eyck’s post-war playgrounds situate this play within a longer history of shared public space, where people collectively invent their own rules.

Mercedes Azpilicueta works across installation, video, performance, text, and sound to revisit historical and contemporary narratives through a decolonial and feminist lens, exploring dissident voices, bodies, and narratives. Drawing in particular on tapestry and costume, she develops highly theatrical works that unfold within the exhibition space, informed by Latin American