mujeres encinta: rewind. retrospectiva de una banda a la que nadie recuerda: a project by daniela franco at Galería Jesús Gallardo

mujeres encinta was a musical band/ art collective active between 1999 and 2002. The band was mainly known for the wide range of background and musical styles and because they recorded and distributed their music only on cassettes. While many of the former mujeres encinta members continue a successful career as musicians in different bands—such as Espanto and Feria from the Spanish label Austrohúngaro, Genís Segarra of Astrud and Hidrogenesse, Ros Murray of Electrelane, Camilo Lara of Instituto Mexicano del Sonido, Vincent Ségal, and Martin Schmidt of Matmos—the prospect of a reunion or a reissue of their recordings has been consistently dismissed.

Following the band’s participation in a collective exhibition the Centro de Arte 2 de mayo in Madrid, a dedicated yet niche audience of underground enthusiasts brought mujeres encinta back from obscurity. Their years in activity were few, their cultural references somewhat cryptic and their music almost impossible to find, and yet, mujeres encinta has garnered considerable attention in recent years. This includes a range of press articles, academic essays, and significant speculation across both print and digital platforms and social media, two retrospectives, and a documentary yet in production: Rise and Fall of mujeres encinta.

In 2021, Mexico City’s art center Casa del Lago produced the first comprehensive retrospective of the mujeres encinta. For that occasion, daniela franco, a visual artist and founding member of the band, undertook the task of compiling audio recordings, videos, and an array of archival materials related to mujeres encinta. The retrospective "mujeres encinta: rewind" traveled to the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Querétaro in 2022, new pieces and archival material were gathered for this new venue. This third and final iteration of mujeres encinta: rewind is on view until January 5th, 2025 at the Galería Jesús Gallardo in its more complete format to date: featuring all assembled works, archival material, and new pieces produced specifically for this occasion.

CREDITS:
Papús von Saenger | curatorship
Beruz Herrero | Original design and museographic coordination

Photos courtesy  of CAVI