Laura Anderson Barbata Mexican, b. 1967

Since 1992 Barbata has worked primarily in the social realm, and completed long term projects in places like the Venezuelan Amazon, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Norway and the USA. Among them is her ongoing project The Repatriation of Julia Pastrana, initiated in 2004. She is well known for her project Transcommunality (ongoing since 2001), with traditional stilt dancers: The Brooklyn Jumbies from New York, West Africa and the Caribbean, and Los Zancudos de Zaachila, from Oaxaca, Mexico. This project has been presented at various museums, public schools and avenues, such as: The Museum of Modern Art New York; The Modern Museum Fort Worth Texas; Museo Textil de Oaxaca, México; Museo de la Ciudad de México; BRIC, New York and Rutgers University, among others.

Her drawings, photographs, and projects have received awards by the Institute of Bellas Artes FONCA, The Lindbergh Foundation, The Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago and The New York Foundation for the Arts.

Her work is included in various museums collections, such as: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; el Museo de Arte Moderno, México D.F.;Landesbank Baden-Württemberg Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany; The Sprint Nextel Collection, Overland Park; Fundación Cisneros, American Express Co. México; Museo Carrillo Gil, México; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA;Museo Jauregui, Navarra, España. Anderson Barbata artistic practice has been featured in: The New York Times, Sculpture Today by Phaidon Press, Kunstforum Germany, ARTnews, Art n America, ArtNexus, 160 Años de Fotografía en México-INBA, among others.

Some of her recent distinctions are: Anonymous Was A Woman Award recipient (2016); The Estelle Lebowitz Endowed Visiting Artist 2016-2017; Center for Women and Humanities, CWAH,Rutgers University; Honorary Fellow: Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program, LACIS, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Fellow: Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary TBA21: The Current and she is a member of the Sistema Nacional para Creadores del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.