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The Reina Sofía Museum exhibits “Luminous Specters” by Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía has recently inaugurated “Luminous Specters,” the most ambitious and comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Guatemalan artist Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa in Spain, to which Tour Time was invited.

The exhibition, located on the fourth floor of the Sabatini Building, will be open to the public until October 20, 2025, and will be included in the Reina Sofía’s guided tours. Tour Time also includes it in its offerings, allowing visitors to delve deeper into the artist’s poetic and political universe.

Exhibition on memory, art, and the turbulent history of Guatemala.

The inauguration of this exhibition was attended by Ramírez-Figueroa himself, curator Soledad Liaño, and the museum’s director, Manuel Segade. The event included an opening talk in which the artist shared insights into his creative process and his unique approach to collective memory and the turbulent history of Guatemala.

The exhibition features fifteen projects that intertwine performance, installation, drawing, and set design, inviting viewers to embark on a sensory journey where childhood, violence, exile, and historical justice intersect. Luminous Specters offers a reinterpretation of Ramírez-Figueroa’s creative singularity, as he gives form to the ghosts of memory and calls for justice and reparation from a dreamlike and deeply personal perspective.

You can watch the video of the inauguration here.

Who is Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa?

Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa (Guatemala City, 1978) is one of the key figures in contemporary Latin American art. His work is characterized by the fusion of sculpture, performance, and video, drawing from both Latin American political activism and experimental theater.

Since his childhood, marked by forced exile to Vancouver during the Guatemalan Civil War, Ramírez-Figueroa has turned personal and collective trauma into the driving force of an artistic practice that revisits history and identity from a critical and poetic perspective.

Internationally recognized, he has exhibited at prestigious institutions such as the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (MAMBO), The Power Plant in Toronto, the New Museum in New York, CAPC in Bordeaux, the KW Institute in Berlin, and Tate Modern in London, among others. His work has been praised for its ability to make the invisible visible, using elements of folklore, science fiction, and theater to reframe historical events and give voice to silenced protagonists.

Ramírez-Figueroa explores public memory through a visual aesthetic rich in symbolism and absurd humor, addressing themes such as violence, displacement, colonial extractivism, and the situation of Indigenous peoples. His art seeks not only to tell the story of Guatemala, but also to generate universal empathy through shared experiences of pain, resistance, and hope.

What does Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa’s work consist of?

The work of Ramírez-Figueroa is profoundly sensory and dreamlike, reconstructing historical and personal episodes through installations, performances, and videos that invite reflection and emotion. In “Luminous Specters,” the artist presents emblematic pieces and a new, previously unseen project focused on the Ch’olti people and forced uprooting, integrating history and spirituality.

Highlighted works in the exhibition include:

• Performance “Illusions of Matter”: The starting point of the show recreates the atmosphere of children’s theater to address, beneath an innocent and absurd façade, critical issues related to censorship and memory.
• “New Aquatints”: A series of black-and-white prints inspired by the play “The Heart of the Scarecrow,” which tragically marked the artist’s family history.
• “Place of Comfort”: A video that constructs a comedic and histrionic narrative about abuse of power and censorship, based on the repression faced by Hugo Carrillo’s play in 1960s Guatemala.
• “The Reptilian Finger of God” and “Chained Flamingos”: Installations reflecting on conspiracy theories as tools of power and the domestication of the body.
• “Life in Her Mouth, Death Cradles Her Arm”: A performance that reclaims the memory of Guatemala’s disappeared, delving into the impact of colonization and violence.
• “Cradle and Lullaby”: A previously unseen installation created for this exhibition, where the artist deconstructs the concept of a cradle and fills it with nightmare beings, exploring reality through dreams and filling the voids of memory.

His work is characterized by a striking visual approach, rich in symbolism, where the body becomes a political and poetic space. Memory, violence, and identity intertwine in pieces that transcend the Guatemalan context to engage with universal concerns.

About the life and current work of Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa.

Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa currently lives and works in Guatemala City. His biography is deeply marked by the experience of exile and the violence of the Guatemalan civil war, which left profound scars on his family—such as the death of a younger brother due to lack of medical care during the conflict and the murder of an activist uncle, a victim of torture.

These personal experiences have fueled a body of work that seeks not only to evoke public memory but also to generate empathy and reflection on the open wounds of history. Ramírez-Figueroa has stated in interviews that his aim is to offer a different perspective on the conflict, moving away from documentary narratives to explore—through aesthetics and symbolism—the imprints that trauma leaves on the body and mind.

Despite his international acclaim, the artist remains deeply committed to Guatemala’s social reality—a country that, in his own words, “has everything, but no one to defend it.” His mother’s involvement in community projects, along with his own displacement experience, have shaped his dedication to themes such as migration, inequality, and cultural resistance.

Currently, Ramírez-Figueroa continues to participate in exhibitions and artist residencies across the globe, establishing himself as an essential voice for understanding the complexities of Latin American contemporary art and its power to transform pain into beauty and collective awareness.

Don’t miss the chance to discover the fascinating work of Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa at the Reina Sofía Museum with Tour Time. Enjoy a unique experience alongside expert guides who will lead you through an immersive journey into “Luminous Specters,” uncovering all the nuances and secrets of one of the year’s most important exhibitions.

Book your visit to the Reina Sofía Museum with Tour Time and let yourself be surprised by contemporary art at one of Madrid’s must-see museums.