Biography
Elena Tejada-Herrera is a transdisciplinary and feminist artist who creates hybrid forms of art by incorporating new media and participatory works in which the public becomes a creative collaborator.
Tejada-Herrera’s performance work has been showcased in a variety of contexts, including Animated Spaces, Gallery of the Peruvian National Library, Lima, (2009); About You, Dean Project Gallery, Long Island City, New York (2008); Nouveau Bourgeois Latin Immigrant That Learned Shopping And Has Good Taste and New Accents of Color, Union Square, New York (2006); Burping Wonderwoman, performance on the streets of Chinatown, New York (2006); Nouveau Bourgeois Latin Immigrant That Learned Shopping And Has Good Taste, performance at Pottery Factory Mall, Williamsburg, Virginia; Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University, Virginia; Live Cinema, Glover Gallery of Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA (2005); I am the art, I am your mirror and The homeless experience at the Vermont Studio Center (2004); and Hairy War, Sculptures and Installation, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson (2004).
Her work has also been exhibited in group exhibitions in Peru, France, Germany, Spain and the United States.
She has attended residency programmes at Urra, Buenos Aires (2019); Atlantic Center for the Arts, US (2010); Centro Fundación Telefónica, Lima (2010): Vermont Studio Center, US (2004); and Cité Internationale Des Arts, Paris (2000).
Tejada-Herrera’s awards and fellowships include the James Nelson Raymond Fellowship (2013); Grand Prix at the 13th Pärnu International Film Festival, Estonia (2007); best video choreography award, Luksuz International Film Festival, Slovenia (2004); Honorable Mention for Best Experimental Work at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, USA (2004); Werkleitz Gesellschaft International Video Prize, Germany (2000); and Passport For An Artist, Peru (1999).
She earned an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (2001–2003).
Tejada-Herrera was born in Lima, Peru, where she continues to live and work.
SAF participation:
Genealogies in the Middle East and Latin America (2021)
Related Content
Elena Tejada-Herrera: Recuerdo [Memory] (1998)
Recuerdo [Memory] was performed on 28 August 1998 in the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos literature department at the invitation of Mihaela Radulescu. Emulating a corpse sealed in a plastic bag, Elena Tejada-Herrera dragged herself across the courtyard as she cried out the names of students murdered during the infamous La Cantuta incident (1992).
Genealogies in the Middle East and Latin America
Sharjah Art Foundation presents a series of online film screenings jointly organised with Anna Goetz, who initiated this collaborative project featuring 21 artists and collectives from the Middle East and Latin America working in film and video.