Rietveld Sandberg Research
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Mariana Martínez Balvanera
Research group Art & Spatial Praxis

Mariana Martínez Balvanera (1988) is a designer and artist based in The Netherlands and Mexico, working in the realm of community lead urban and rural placemaking projects within the critical spatial practice approach: in the intersection between architecture, participatory art and social design.

She studied Interior Architecture in Mexico and graduated from a Masters in Narrative Environments at Central St Martins, London, 2014. Among others, she has collaborated to create the Mediamatic Biotoop, a space for bioarts and future agriculture in Amsterdam; with Estudio Teddy Cruz, designing socio-spatial interventions to rethink post-war housing schemes in London; with Cascoland, executing performatic participation and collaboration tools for the creation of public spaces; and created a cultural exchange platform that questions different notions of identity through food and storytelling, Colectivo Pantitlán. She has been guest lecturer at arts and design universities in Mexico, Germany and The Netherlands. In 2018 she co-founded Cocina Colaboratorio, a transdisciplinary project that regards the kitchen as a co-creative space where people are connected through growing, cooking, tasting, sharing and experimenting, where she leads creative programming aimed at designing transdisciplinary and place-based food systems.

Art & Spatial Praxis – The research group Art & Spatial Praxis launched the digital artistic research platform Plot(ting) on April 17th 2024. Plot(ting) emerges as a publishing platform showcasing art, research, and spatial practices. Currently it harbors contributions by Flavia Pinheiro, Giulia Damiani, Francisca Khamis & Maia Gattás Vargas, Neeltje ten Westenend & Hanneke Stuit, Mariana Balvanera, Patricia de Vries, Amelia Groom, and Liza Prins. Here you can read in brief about the different contributions. Read more on the plotting website: plotting.rietveldsandberg.nl

Art & Spatial Praxis – The research group Art & Spatial Praxis (LASP) starts a new Plot(ting) research group consisting of 11 new members. They meet on a monthly basis to discuss theoretical and material manifestations that speak to Sylvia Wynter’s concept of the plot. They had their first fruitful session on May 30th 2023.