María Alejandra Barreto

//Visual artist & Jeweller

//May-june 2025

Creator of the contemporary jewellery brand Exuvia. Alejandra began her journey in the jewellery in 2021. Her constant learning process has led her to explore and question the human and divine aspects of life and matter on a daily basis. She is intrigued by the history of humanity as told through objects and their adornments. She experiences this daily in her workshop, designing and creating devotional jewellery for those who seek her work, in which she has identified the valuable place that jewellery has in everyone's daily life. More than just adornments, they become part of the body. Understanding that each piece she makes can be used and kept for generations, she has chosen this craft, working with metals and minerals, as the way she wants to serve and relate to the world as she passes through life.

El Boga Art Residency

Back to the Sacred proposes a theoretical/practical research exercise on the origins of the techniques and materials used in the workshops of the Momposino community, home to one of the most important goldsmithing traditions in the country. Recognising the sacred in the use of metal as a material, in the craft and in the union of different knowledge sown around body ornamentation in this territory is one of her main pursuits. Here, a legacy of techniques belonging to the Zenú and Malibu communities, the Spanish colony and possibly communities of African origin converge, and this union is materialised in the silverwork carried out by the mestizo community today. Likewise, the great influence of Momposino religious art, present in its architecture, symbols and material culture, will play an important role in the process of creation and materialisation during her residency.

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Contact: @exuvia_taller