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A close up photo of artist Yanira Castro against a yellow background. She wears tinted glasses and is facing away from the camera with a neutral expression.

Yanira Castro

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“Exorcism = Liberation” is a public art project that investigates our relationship to land, self-determination, migration, and climate disaster. Through collective citywide experiences in New York City, Chicago, and the Connecticut River Valley of Western Massachusetts, we are inviting the American public to imagine alternative futures through the lens of Puerto Rican culture and the U.S.’ ongoing colonial history. “Exorcism = Liberation” utilizes familiar forms of political media campaigns to immerse the public in sonic experiences, distributing stickers, posters, handmade banners, lawn signs and pins through local community and art organizations. 

“Exorcism = Liberation” is an act of intervention, a rehearsal for collective action during a critical American election. To learn more about the project, partners, and upcoming events, check out exorcism-liberation.net

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I form iterative, multimodal projects that center land, citizenship, and governance in works that are activated and performed by the public. My practice centers the collective negotiation, interpretation and enacting of a set of prompts shared in live performance, installations, podcasts, manuals. These prompts are participatory performance scores that invite people to act—to gesture, speak, sing, dress, construct objects, and engage one another. The work builds intimate gatherings that foster communal embodiment and unearth power and control, offering useful discomfort and reflection.

Yanira Castro is a Puerto Rican interdisciplinary artist living in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn), and working at the intersection of communal practices, performance, installation, and interactive technology. Since 2009, she’s created with a team of collaborators as, a canary torsi. She has been commissioned and/or presented by The Chocolate Factory Theater, MCA Chicago, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, NY Live Arts, The Invisible Dog Art Center, Abrons Arts Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) and ICA/Boston. Her work has been supported by Creative Capital, The Alpert Award, MAP Fund, a NYFA Choreography Fellowship, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, MacDowell, LMCC, and Yaddo, and has received two NY Dance & Performance (aka Bessie) Awards for Outstanding Production. 

Featured Artwork

"What is your first memory of dirt?" Black text on a yellow background accompanied by a QR code. This image shows the graphic on a lawn sign in a green backyard space.
Yanira Castro. WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF DIRT?, 2024. Lawn sign at The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn NY. Photograph documentation by Argenis Apolinario.
"I Came Here to Weep" printed in black text accompanied by a QR code on a garage door. The graphic includes a wave splashing effect.
Yanira Castro. I CAME HERE TO WEEP, 2024. Installation at A.P.E. Ltd., Northampton MA.
"Exorcism=Liberation" black text and QR code on red background. Painted onto a garage and has line-drawings of a crowd of people in the background.
Yanira Castro. EXORCISM = LIBERATION, 2024. Installation at Chocolate Factory Theater, Queens NY.
"Exorcism=Liberation" black text and QR code on red background. Wall banner.
Yanira Castro. EXORCISM = LIBERATION, 2024. Banner.
"What is your first memory of dirt?" Black text on a yellow background accompanied by a QR code. This image shows the graphic as a banner.
Yanira Castro. WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF DIRT?, 2024. Banner.
"I Came Here to Weep" black text on blue with a QR code at the bottom on a wall banner.
Yanira Castro. I CAME HERE TO WEEP, 2024. Banner.
"I Came Here to Weep" blue QR code lawn signs in public planters. People sit in chairs around these planters wearing masks, either yellow or red.
Yanira Castro. I CAME HERE TO WEEP, 2024. Activation at Abrons Art Center, New York NY.
"What is Your First Memory of Dirt" Poster outside of the Invisible Dog Art Center.
Yanira Castro. WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF DIRT?, 2024 at The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn NY.
"Exorcism=Liberation" window display.
Yanira Castro. EXORCISM = LIBERATION, 2024. Installation at Co-Prosperity, Chicago IL.
Bowl filled with free stickers and pins with all three titles. "What is your first memory of dirt?," "I Came Here to Weep," and "Exorcism=Liberation"
Yanira Castro. Activation at The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn NY. Photograph Documentation by Argenis Apolinario.
Yellow paper-mâché masks hung up on a wall surrounded by 9 bright lights.
Yanira Castro. I Came Here to Weep: Weep Score, 2023. 32 papier-mâché masks, programmable LED sign, fluorescents, 3 beanbag chairs, 1 sound score, variable dimensions. Photo documentation by Maria Baranova.
A person dressed in all red with a paper/cardboard red mask over their heads. They stand in front of a red curtain in a driveway.
Yanira Castro. I Came Here to Weep: Clearing Practice, 2023. Performance, performed by Martita Abril. Photo documentation by Brian Rogers.