The city of Mérida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, has long had a vibrant art scene, and now initiatives like the recent inaugural Week of Art Yucatán are giving it new visibility. Later this year, the city will host the first edition of the Bienal de Yucatán (26 November 2026-28 February 2027). The French-born, London and Mérida based art patron, collector and curator Catherine Petitgas, who supports local art through Proyecto Y, is behind the biennial. The Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas will be the inaugural edition’s artistic director.
“After I first visited Mérida in 2013, I was amazed by the heritage, artists and its art school—now a university—yet I noticed a lack of local exhibiting programmes,” Petitgas says. “Since then, I began dreaming of a biennial which would strengthen and draw visibility for contemporary art in the region.”
Mérida’s thriving art scene
Mérida is home to many Mexican and international artists, either permanently or for parts of the year. The list of artists with a year-round or seasonal presence includes the Austrian sculptor Gerda Gruber, the Cuban American artist Jorge Pardo, the Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, the Cuban artist Marco A. Castillo and the US artist Randy Shull. The city now has more than 40 galleries, including the longtime space Lux Perpetua, newer ones like Galería Secreta and emerging hybrid venues like Silvestre.
“Mérida’s art ecosystem has expanded and is multicultural, but more community initiatives are needed,” says Mimi Cervera, Lux Perpetua’s director, adding that local collectors are increasingly open to experimental practices.
Visitors at Nepantla, curated by Al Ratito Studio, at a former henéquen hacienda in Telchac, Pueblo, which is the studio of New York designer Angela Dammen Photo Mimi Cervera
The Universidad de las Artes de Yucatán (UNAY) is key to the city’s vibrant scene, with graduates launching independent platforms. This includes Proyectos Espectra and Esay—whose name nods to the university’s former name, Escuela Superior de Artes de Yucatán. “Gradually, the city is having more spaces, but the challenge is for more students to insert themselves into the art circuit,” said Emilio Lameiras, a painting professor at UNAY.
Like other cities in Mexico, Mérida faces unregulated growth and gentrification driven by rising tourism and an influx of new residents, both international and domestic. Attractive for its layered heritage, reputation for safetyand gastronomy, the city’s ongoing transformation continues to reshape its art ecosystem.
Art week leads the way
Held for the first time in late January, the Week of Art Yucatán’s abbreviation, Way, references a Maya-origin local expression (uay) meaning surprise, joy, astonishment, or even sudden fright. It brought together more than 20 spaces, including galleries and independent initiatives like Concordia at the Lucas de Gálvez market. It featured three main venues: Mérida’s Salón Gallos, a cinema-bar-art space in a repurposed factory; Plantel Matilde, artist José Marín’s concrete-and-water structure in Sac Chich; and the pop-up Nepantla at a former henequen hacienda in Telchac, Pueblo, now the studio of the American designer Angela Damman.
View of La Concordia during Week of Art Yucatán Courtesy of La Concordia
“Way is an art festival showcasing artists and projects while building community,” says its organiser, José García Torres, a former Mexico City dealer now based in Mérida who co-founded Salón Gallos. “The aim was first to resonate locally, and reception was strong.”
During Way, new spaces like 54 Galleryalso opened. “With my project, I intend to foster local collaborations and community,” say the gallery’s owner, the New York-based artist Trey Speegle.
Way coincided with other regional art events, like Art Weekend Guadalajara, that preceded Mexico City’s week of fairs and events surrounding Zona Maco in early February.
A bet on long-term impact
The upcoming Bienal de Yucatán continues Petitgas’s patronage in Mérida, where she resides part of the time. She brings decades of experience in museums and biennials, including serving on the Bienal de São Paulo’s International Advisory Board and, since 2018, as a trustee of the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art. “I am drawn to the international biennial model as both a platform for reflection and exchange and a catalyst for local cultural development,” Petitgas says.
In 2023, she founded Proyecto Y, an initiative that helps to develop the careers of local artists, primarily UNAY alumni, through exhibitions, commissions and education programming. “For over 25 years, in London, Paris and Latin America, I have supported young artists, mostly soon after graduating, and that is what we are fortunate to do at Proyecto Y,” Petitgas says. “The biennial expands Proyecto Y in scale, reach and ambition, seeking to introduce artists and collectives involved in it to a broader stage, while bringing attention to the local scene beyond our projects.”
Cruzvillegas has recently worked in the region through Proyecto Y’s programming with UNAY students. “The biennial will allow me to expand my questions as an artist into a collective exchange, generating a positive impact within the generous and layered context of the peninsula,” Cruzvillegas says.
The curatorial theme for the Bienal de Yucatán’s first iteration is language. “The biennial will explore language along with its interpretive breadth, translations, misunderstandings and inherent contradictions, through newly commissioned works, loans and archival presentations,” Cruzvillegas explains.
Ongoing solo exhibition of local artist Sylvie at Centro Cultural del Mayab organised by Proyecto Y and Sedeculya Photo Fritzia Irizar
The international contemporary art festival will be staged in Mérida’s historic centre, spanning “public, private and independent spaces, with Casa de la Cultura del Mayab as a central node”, says Daniela Pérez, the biennial’s project director,. In April 2025, parts of Casa del Mayab, a former convent from the 16th century, were repurposed as temporary exhibition spaces through an alliance between Proyecto Y and the Ministry of Culture and Arts. During Way, a biennial gala was held there. The space is currently showing a solo exhibition by the local Proyecto Y artist Sylvie.
The creation of Casa del Mayab is especially vital because the 2021 closure of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Ateneo de Yucatánleft the region without a contemporary art museum. A state-funded biennial of visual arts was also halted years ago. Ever since, many local contemporary art initiatives have been primarily privately funded.
The forthcoming Bienal de Yucatán, however, is firmly rooted in the local scene that has grown up organically and includes an educational program. “Rather than trying to find a novel thread, we recognise that the richness of this biennial lies in what the local landscape naturally offers,” Pérez says. Long-term impact is key, with editions already scheduled for 2028 and 2030.
Petitgas adds: “I believe the biennial can transform Mérida’s cultural life: this is what we aspire to, and I hope we will succeed.”
