Later this month, AZULIK is due to open its new interdisciplinary experiential site, AZULIK UH MAY, in the heart of the jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula. The complex will incorporate a range of creative spaces, including an innovative art space, fashion and design lab, arts and crafts school, recording studio and artist residencies.
AZULIK UH MAY’s anthropomorphous structures, characteristic of Roth’s architecture, appear to rise up naturally from the ground, and are connected to each other through floating bridges and meandering paths. Roth commented “AZULIK UH MAY captures the soul of the location and has been carefully designed to preserve and embrace the local ecosystems.”
AZULIK’s founder, social entrepreneur Roth (Eduardo Neira) hopes the new site will “encourage and favour the encounter of the finest spirits of our times, committed to exploring new forms of reconnecting as individuals and as a community alike, united by the shared desire to learn from the native tribes, to live in harmony with the environment and to help them navigate the challenges of contemporary life under the aegis of art in a myriad of manifestations.”
IK LAB, Tulum
The opening ceremony will take place at the end of the month from November 29 through December 1, with a focus on the harmonious coexistence and mutual dialogue of ancient and modern communities. An auction at the event on November 30 will showcase fashion pieces from AZULIK’s sustainable in-house fashion brand, Anikena, as well as artworks, opportunities to participate in masterclasses and bespoke experiences from AZULIK. All proceeds will go towards Roth’s ENCHANTING TRANSFORMATION Foundation - whose projects include designing spaces that allow for the reintegration of indigenous communities, while promoting the integral development of their ancestral wisdom. The Foundation supports the onsite arts and crafts school, which will bring together the local Mayan population, artists in residence, international students and scholars.
In addition to the special ceremony, December 1 will see the opening of the inaugural exhibition at the IK LAB UH MAY art space under the curation of IK LAB’s Artistic Director, Claudia Paetzold. “Conjunctions” will bring together works by Ernesto Neto, Paulo Nazareth and Oskar Metsavaht.
To further its commitment to art and its environment, AZULIK UH MAY will continue to develop a program throughout 2019 to support its current facilities, evolving and expanding to include an art museum, a recycling and sustainability research centre and a new technology hub.
Katy Cross
