Fernanda Ramos Mena

Ramos Mena, Fernanda
Fernanda Ramos Mena, Independent Curator and Writer, Mexico City, Mexico.

Conference Report. December 2024

Who holds whom?

This year, the CIMAM Annual Conference was titled Sustainable Futures: How? When? For Whom?, a name that led me to reflect on the Spanish meanings of "sustentable" (sustainable) and "sostenible" (capable of being held). Is it possible to imagine more sustainable futures in a world where the neocolonial economy devastates ecosystems that act as the planet's vital lungs, displacing the communities who live there? These power structures are upheld by a capitalist economy that greenwashes its projects to justify the exploitation of mining zones, forests, and rivers in the name of progress and growth.

What enables our bodies—and those of non-human beings—to persevere? I am drawn to the concept of "holding" rather than "sustainability." Holding up Futures... Who holds whom? To hold signifies care as well as ethical, emotional, and political accountability. It also entails endurance and creating bonds to navigate current crises.

From this perspective, imagining sustainability within an economic system rooted in deceptive practices—creating the illusion of superficial change while perpetuating the exploitation of other bodies for the benefit of the highest bidder—feels contradictory. Coming from Mexico City, its vibrant and dynamic art scene might seem like a direct insertion into the logic of capital. However, the museums and independent spaces where I have worked have implemented strategies of resistance and adaptation in the face of extreme budget cuts.

This personal experience offers an alternative perspective on sustainability, one that goes beyond the megaprojects presented on the first day of the conference. For example, the Hammer Museum stands out, with a renovation process that spanned 25 years and offers free admission. But within its massive structure, is it truly a museum "for everyone"? In what ways can it be considered sustainable? Meanwhile, the Guggenheim Bilbao replaced the lights in its infrastructure with LED bulbs, financed by a multimillion-dollar budget—a technically sustainable change. But is it sustainable in the long term? What companies are behind these transformations? Who funds change, and for what purpose?

The second day began with a keynote by Zita Cobb, who invited us to reflect on the concept of care: what we carry and care for when thinking about place. "Dignity—and indignity—are experienced in place." The place we come from, how we root ourselves in it, and what we give back reflects a reciprocal relationship that overturns the economic logic of capital in favor of a "nutritional economy." This approach encourages us to consider what we produce, from where, and with what impact. As Cobb noted: "What matters is what we do." In this sense, how we do it profoundly shapes our immediate networks.

Mai Abu ElDahab, director of Mophradat in Brussels, Belgium, took a more poetic approach by asking questions reflecting on: What is the purpose of what we do? Art, as a sensitive practice, is also embedded in systems of control, oppression, and the subjugation of other bodies. In the face of the supremacist war and extermination carried out by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon, we must ask ourselves: What is the significance of what we say, how we say it, and for whom? What can we stand against? Challenging hegemonic systems requires refusing to participate in initiatives that erase others' existence and are complicit in war economies.

The interview about Ibrahim Mahama's artistic and community practice with curator Yesomi Umolu helped decentralize the idea of the institution as an investment geared toward capital. In contrast, his Savannah Centre for Contemporary Arts in Tamale, Ghana, offers a model for imagining an institution rooted in care and people's needs. Conceived as a community and gathering center, far removed from the sacrality of museums in the Global North, its value lies not in its collection but in the people who inhabit and shape the space. This reimagining fosters a sensitivity that prioritizes resistance, solidarity, and community-building in the face of a violent system.

Beyond the climate crisis, this second day helped me recognize how cooperation and care are practices that can sustain one another. Outside the economy of capital, hierarchies, impositions, and violence, another form of nutritional economy exists. This economy reveals that survival depends on creating vital, local, and collective communities of exchange.


Biography

Fernanda Ramos Mena (b. 1991) is a curator and a dysfunctional writer. Grounded in care and empathy, her practice explores art and its intersection with the archive, poetry, and literature as tools of critique, historical vindication, and social justice futures storytelling.

Fernanda was part of the curatorial team at the Museo de Arte Moderno, where she curated, researched, and created public programs on feminist Mexican modern and contemporary art. She curated exhibitions for ASU Art Museum, Tempe Arizona, Casa Rafael Galván, Universidad Autónoma de México, and Museo Casa Diego Rivera, Guanajuato, among others. She received a grant from FONDART Nacional Ventanilla Abierta, Chile, together with Chilean artist Paulina Silva Hauyon for a social engagement project developed in several institutions in Temuco, Antofagasta and Santiago de Chile.

Recently, Fernanda has taught several workshops on art, archives and literature, one commissioned by ESPAC as part of their publication "Y si la casa era la institución" and one in collaboration with the Women and Gender Section of the Archivo Nacional de Chile for Visual Arts BA students at Finis Terras University. She has also edited the publications "Aquí&Allá" of art between Mexico and the USA on non-hegemonic art practices related to the climate crisis and indigenous communities for Proartes de México. She has given mentored sessions at Radio28, Cobertizo (CDMX,MX), Bemis Center (Omaha, US), and ISCP (NY, US).

In 2021, Fernanda was granted by the Getty Foundation to participate online in the CIMAM conference program. In 2024, she is contributing to the curatorial platform Lava program, where she organizes social engagement and ecofeminist art proposals. She is currently working as a researcher and assistant curator for John Akomfrah's first exhibition in Mexico at Museo Amparo Puebla, curated by Jessica Berlanga. Some of her writing has been published in The Brooklyn Rail, Luvina, La Tempestad, ESPAC, OndaMx, and Artishock.

Fernanda Ramos Mena, Independent Curator and Writer, Mexico City, Mexico, has been awarded by Aimée Labarrere de Servitje, Mexico.