The exhibition Where the Flowers Bloom, by Peruvian-Swiss photographer Ana Margarita Flores, is the result of an investigation into her roots, delving into the layers of both her personal history and her country of origin. The artist engages with the concepts of colonialism, identity, belonging, and womanhood, starting from the very first space we inhabit: clothing. Where the Flowers Bloom portrays women from the Anccoto, Mullacas Misminay, and K’acllaraccay communities wearing carefully chosen traditional garments that function as a colourful, joyful way to reflect on traditions, memory, and their bond with the territory.
Flores moves with delicacy between archival materials, fashion photography, and documentary practice, reshaping the visual language of Cusco’s 19th-century portrait studios by giving full agency back to the women she portrays. The result of a horizontal collaboration with them, Flores’s work is an exploration of what it means to have a multicultural identity, to be grounded in a place yet blossom toward the sky like flowers, and to revisit the past in order to interpret the present, creating space for those who remain underrepresented.
Curated by Alejandra Orosco and Paul Gambin at MALEZA in Cusco, Where the Flowers Bloom, along with its accompanying public program, is on view at MALEZA, Av. La Convención 479, Urubamba (Cusco, Peru), until January 22, 2026.
