Cecilia Brunson Projects is delighted to announce that artist Claudia Alarcón and curator Andrei Fernández have been awarded the 2026 AFIELD Fellowship for their work with Silät, an Indigenous collective of Wichí women weavers in northern Argentina. The fellowship recognises their ongoing commitment to sustaining ancestral textile practices, advancing Indigenous rights and strengthening the cultural and economic autonomy of Wichí women.
Working across five Wichí communities in the Gran Chaco, Silät brings together weavers through the practice of working with Chaguar, the sacred plant whose fibres are used in traditional Wichí textiles. By establishing more direct routes to the international art market, the collective enables its members to set their own prices and share authorship of their work. Its wider community initiative, Silät Wuké (Message House), encompasses a school, workshop, publishing project and kitchen, supporting the transmission of knowledge and the wellbeing of the communities it serves.
The AFIELD Fellowship recognises the importance of this work in sustaining Indigenous cultural practices and supporting community-led initiatives.
