Chuquimamani-Condori

Sunday 12 October, 12:00 noon
Ca’ Giustinian, Venice

La Biennale di Venezia will present the Silver Lion to Chuquimamani-Condori, an American of Bolivian origin, and a visionary voice in contemporary experimental music.

“For the innovative contribution to contemporary music, the multidisciplinary artistic experimentation and participation in a wider cultural discourse, connecting music to themes of identity and history, La Biennale awards the Silver Lion to Chuqimamani-Condori”.
“A multidisciplinary artist and musician of Bolivian origin – reads the motivation for the award – Chuquimamani–Condori, whose project is also known as Elysia Crampton Chuquimia, is a visionary voice in contemporary experimental music. Their work redefines the boundaries of electronic composition, interweaving the folk sounds of the native Aymara tradition with digital technologies and the club culture. Rooted in the Aymara cosmology and decolonial philosophy, their music stands as an act of resistance to linear conventions of time and western musical structures. With a career that extends across two decades, Chuquimamani-Condori has developed an innovative approach to sound through the use of sampling, polyrhythmic structures, futuristic melodic synth and complex personal narratives. Their aesthetic of sound, which blends folk and the hyper-contemporary, is distinguished by the construction of maximalist layers that reflect their cultural legacy and queer identity. Their artistic research is not only decolonial practice, but also a form of cultural resistance and queer politics, that can open new aesthetic and conceptual paths on themes of identity, diaspora and decolonisation. Chuquimamani-Condori’s music does not just reflect existing traditions, it re-elaborates the potential of sound as a means of historical storytelling, identity and transformation”.

Chuquimamani-Condori (1985, California) is affiliated with the Pakajaqi nation and was born in 1985 in the Inland Empire region of California. They began their musical career under the pseudonyms E+E and Elysia Crampton, creating digital sound collages that combine Andean musical forms with experimental electronic rhythms. They then evolved their artistic practice, integrating Aymara ceremonial traditions with contemporary performative methodologies. Their more recent works include Q’iwanakaxa/Q’iwsanakaxa Utjxiwa, presented at MoMA PS1 in New York: a collaboration with their brother Joshua Chuquimia Crampton that merges sound, music and images to honour their ancestors and reflect upon the themes of resistance and cultural identity. Their influence extends from underground electronic music to contemporary composition and sonic art, consolidating their voice as one of the most relevant and innovative of their generation.
One of their most recent albums is DJ E (2023). Other works include: Rayo Mix (2022), Across the Policed World: A Transnocturnal Huayño (2022), Amaru’s Tongue: Daughter (2021), in collaboration with Joshua Chuquimia Crampton. They continue to work with AIM SoCal, the American Indian Movement Southern California (founded in 1968).
They participated in the 60th International Art Exhibition (2024) in the Bolivian Pavilion.