Located in Zacualpan de Amilpas, Morelos, Mexico, Instituto Tropical México is a trans disciplinary artistic initiative at the convergence between art, feeding systems, science and indigenous knowledge.
Instituto Tropical México is a trans-disciplinary artistic initiative at the convergence between art, feeding systems, science and indigenous knowledge. It offers artistic research residencies, workshops and seminars dealing with eco-social restoration, promoting local and collective transformation.
As a fertile ground for experimentation and reflection, Instituto Tropical Mexico explores the possibilities of the the Symbiocene-, a future geological era in which humans and non humans live in collaboration and symbiosis.
Building upon the strong historical bond between Austria and México and the intellectual and artistic circulation between Europe and Latin America, Instituto Tropical Mexico seeks to strengthen the connection between art and ecological restoration, cultivating solidarity, dialogue and meaningful exchange between the global north and the global south through a variety of programs
RESIDENCY AND RESEARCH PROGRAM IN MEXICO
A SCHOOL OF ROOTED KNOWLEDGES
Located in the heart of Zacualpan de Amilpas, the residency program acknowledges the colonial history embedded in the house and seeks to heal this past by placing dialogue with the community at the core of its practice. Residents and neighbours are invited to stay, reflect, and imagine fair, collaborative artistic processes that engage with local craftspeople and situated ancestral knowledges.
What can you do here that you cannot do anywhere else?
How can you relate to the surroundings—both physical and temporal?
The space unfolds as a horizontal school—a place where knowledge is exchanged, traditions are reimagined, and the many ‘hands’ shaping creative processes, both human and more-than-human, are recognized and honored.
Like the magmatic force of the Popocatepetl, the volcano that looms over Zacualpan de Amilpas, diverse practices and worldviews converge, flow, and erupt—giving rise to new forms of expression, resistance, and possibility.
“None of us is better than all of us together”—Piripkura peoples
Images of the research of residents Jozef Wouters and Lilah John, at the local workshops of Don Clemente Pizarro, Clay and traditional pottery from the village of Amayuca and SOAME, Association of female weavers of the indigenous village of Hueyapan.
The Founder
Joaquin Piña Armendariz (13.03.1945-09.03.2025) was a distinguished Mexican businessman and patron of the arts. He established the Instituto Tropical in Zacualpan de Amilpas, on the land his father had acquired in the late 1950s. A self-taught agricultural researcher, Piña dedicated his life to studying and cultivating tropical and exotic fruits and vegetables, developing numerous projects that explored sustainable and innovative farming practices.
In his later years, he grew deeply concerned about Mexico’s environmental challenges—soil erosion, deforestation, and water pollution—and devoted his research to creating non-toxic agrochemicals and natural fertilization methods.
As an arts supporter, he helped foster the permanent collection of the Instituto Tropical. He envisioned the Institute as a space for the cross-pollination of artistic and restorative practices, bridging ecology, science, and art in service of a more harmonious relationship with the land.
In his later years, he grew deeply concerned about Mexico’s environmental challenges—soil erosion, deforestation, and water pollution—and devoted his research to creating non-toxic agrochemicals and natural fertilization methods.
As an arts supporter, he helped foster the permanent collection of the Instituto Tropical. He envisioned the Institute as a space for the cross-pollination of artistic and restorative practices, bridging ecology, science, and art in service of a more harmonious relationship with the land.
Artistic Direction
Amanda Piña: Is an artist-researcher, educator and writer of Chilean- Mexican descent. She lives and works in Vienna since 2005 creating performances, curating transdisciplinary contexts and writing publications on what she describes as Endangered Human Movements. She led and curated the Viennese gallery space for performance nadaLokal from 2009 to 2018. She teaches in various university context in Europe such as SKH in Sweden and ImpulsTanz in Vienna. Her work has been presented, in theatres, galleries, museums and cultural centers around the world, such as Kunsthalle Wien, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain Paris, MUMOK -Museum of Modern Art Vienna, deSingel Arts Campus Antwerp, Museo Universitario del Chopo, México and GAM, Santiago de Chile among others. In 2024 she was visiting Professor of the Valesca Gert Chair of Choreography at the Free University Berlin.
Feeding Systems Development
Michel Jimenez: Studied Mechanic Engineering in Santiago de Chile ( USACH) and Applied Arts in Vienna ( Die Angewandte). He holds a master in Digital Arts (Die Angewandte). He works in various projects in art and agriculture. He has worked as art director, integral and light design in the creations of Amanda Pina as part of the association Studio Fortuna in Vienna and internationally.
His work is not concerned with his individual authorship focusing on collaborative practices in which he is concerned in the processes leading to the integral construction of an image-project-realization of an idea, be it in film, video, installation live or arts agriculture. Michel is project manager of the agricultural projects linked to Instituto Tropical aimed at researching and developing feeding systems.
His work is not concerned with his individual authorship focusing on collaborative practices in which he is concerned in the processes leading to the integral construction of an image-project-realization of an idea, be it in film, video, installation live or arts agriculture. Michel is project manager of the agricultural projects linked to Instituto Tropical aimed at researching and developing feeding systems.
Associated curator
Lorena Moreno Vera: Interdependent curator based in Vienna and Mexico City. Her work explores narratives of natural phenomena and physiological functions through feminist theory, philosophy of science, and traditional knowledge. She holds an MA in Critical Studies (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna) and has collaborated with festivals and institutions across Mexico, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, and Australia, including Museo Jumex, Tangente St. Pölten, Archipel, and Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). She is also part of laschulas, a multidisciplinary collective focused on research, community, and environmental awareness.
Editorial, archive and publications
Luisa Martinez de zárate has a Master’s in Social Innovation and over 13 years of experience leading social initiatives alongside diverse Indigenous communities, she works at the intersection of art, ecology, and systemic change. Her practice explores the decentralization of the human through contemporary forms, weaving together critical inquiry, land-based knowledge, and creative expression to reimagine our entanglement with the more-than-human world.
A graduate of the Institute of Postnatural Studies, she investigates symbiotic futures and speculative fictions as ways to rethink how we inhabit the planet and relate to other forms of intelligence. She is the founder of Tormenta, an expanded editorial and curatorial platform exploring multidisiplinary artistic, ecological, and philosophical practices for imagining the present otherwise.
A graduate of the Institute of Postnatural Studies, she investigates symbiotic futures and speculative fictions as ways to rethink how we inhabit the planet and relate to other forms of intelligence. She is the founder of Tormenta, an expanded editorial and curatorial platform exploring multidisiplinary artistic, ecological, and philosophical practices for imagining the present otherwise.
Photography and documentation
Mafalda Rakoš (*1994, AT) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and holds degrees from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague (KABK) and the University of Vienna‘s Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, where she currently teaches as a guest lecturer.
Triggered by the ethical conflict around portraying and representing others, she develops collaborative approaches to create long-term projects in the intersection of art, anthropology and documentary photography, with a strong emphasis on dialogue and mutual decision-making. In this process, analogue photography and the act of print-making, print-giving plays an important role. She has been working persons affected by eating disorders and other mental distresses for more than a decade.
Triggered by the ethical conflict around portraying and representing others, she develops collaborative approaches to create long-term projects in the intersection of art, anthropology and documentary photography, with a strong emphasis on dialogue and mutual decision-making. In this process, analogue photography and the act of print-making, print-giving plays an important role. She has been working persons affected by eating disorders and other mental distresses for more than a decade.
Trees, flowers and fruits, earth beings and people; The Popocatepetl Vulcano, whose name translates as The Smoky Mountain.
Michel Jimenez and Isidro Barreto irrigating the trees at Instituto tropical. Juan José and Nabor Ramirez, Mara'akames from La Laguna, Mezquitic Jalisco, teaching ways to relate with the beings of the land. The water well. The documentation centre .
Photography by Mafalda Rakoš, Amanda Piña and Michel Jiménez
Michel Jimenez and Isidro Barreto irrigating the trees at Instituto tropical. Juan José and Nabor Ramirez, Mara'akames from La Laguna, Mezquitic Jalisco, teaching ways to relate with the beings of the land. The water well. The documentation centre .
Photography by Mafalda Rakoš, Amanda Piña and Michel Jiménez
