Tactile Heritage showcases the works of Kanta Kimura and Beatriz Morales, who draw from the cultural traditions of Japan and Mexico. By focusing on texture, material, and form, the artists engage in a global dialogue that blends heritage with contemporary art. The exhibition emphasizes the resilience of cultural heritage, highlighting how art can unite diverse perspectives and counter ideological divides.

Tactile Heritage is an exhibition that unites the recent works of Kanta Kimura and Beatriz Morales, two artists whose practices are deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of Japan and Mexico. Through their exploration of texture, material, and aesthetic form, Kimura and Morales engage in a transglobal artistic dialogue, emphasizing the tactile and sensory qualities of their works while reimagining cultural heritage in a contemporary context. Kanta Kimura’s paintings draw inspiration from the Japanese aesthetic concept of Ukiyo, or the “floating world,” a tradition that celebrates the transient beauty of life. While Ukiyo-ehistorically took the form of woodblock prints, Kimura transposes this delicate, ephemeral sensibility into the European medium of oil on canvas, bringing a new dimension to this cultural legacy. Beatriz Morales, in contrast, grounds her artistic practice in the vibrant material culture of Mexico. Using natural fibers such as agave, Morales constructs intricate, layered installations that emphasize the physical presence of her materials. Her works evoke the textures, colors, and resilience inherent in Mexican craftsmanship, while also highlighting the importance of touch and sensory experience in understanding cultural tradition. Through her use of humble, natural materials, Morales reclaims the vitality of Mexican folklore, creating works that are at once grounded in the past and forward- looking in their contemporary expression. A central theme in Tactile Heritage is the convergence of Japanese and Mexican traditions, seen through the shared emphasis on applied materiality and painterly visualized materiality in the artists’ practices. The exhibition highlights this intersection by inviting viewers to engage with the layered surfaces that characterize Kimura’s oil paintings and Morales’s fiber-based installations. Their works, while distinct in medium and cultural reference, form a visual and tactile dialogue, revealing a shared artistic language rooted in their respective heritages. Tactile Heritage ultimately serves as a testament to the resilience of cultural heritage and the power of art to bring together diverse perspectives. This exhibition offers a vision of cultural exchange that counters ideological division and geopolitical conflict in our current world. By finding common ground through their art, Beatriz Morales and Kanta Kimura remind us that we all are simply humans risen from the same family.