In Search of an Aesthetic of My Own

Kukli Velarde presents: In Search of an Aesthetic of My Own. Peruvian-American artist Kukli Velarde explores aesthetics, cultural survival, and inheritance through visual work that considers the consequences of the European invasion of the Americas. Her practice centers on the cultural strategies of resistance and negotiation developed by Indigenous peoples, particularly the original inhabitants of Perú, her country of origin.

Raised amid contemporary urban and rural landscapes alongside the enduring presence of pre-Columbian and Catholic colonial aesthetics, Velarde often calls on these visual traditions in her work. She draws especially from pre-Columbian ceramic and textile practices as an act of recognition and reconnection with her aesthetic inheritance. Through this work, Velarde embraces an aesthetic that reflects the people to whom she belongs—people who experienced colonization, continue to endure coloniality, and are often excluded from European and Euro-American definitions of art’s “universality.”

This event is part of a series of events for Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15–October 15, 2026, co-sponsored by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. This year’s theme is “Peru in Temple; Temple in Peru.” See other Hispanic Heritage Month programs here.