“Hilo de la Sangre” (Thread of the Blood), a Latin art exhibit organized by Grupo Soap del Corazon, founded by Xavier Tavera and Dougie Padilla in 2000, will be on display from Aug. 1 to Dec. 1 at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in the Nancy and John Lindahl Gallery in downtown St. Paul.

The exhibit brings together 15 Latin visual artists to portray the significance of blood as a material foundation of life — a carrier of complex lineages, a signal of violence and death as well as a cultural and spiritual symbol of sacrifice and atonement, according to the MMAA.

Xavier Tavera, curator of the exhibit said that “a thread of blood” is an important concept. So, he contacted a number of Latin artists and gave them the title with no direction on where to take their art. For the artists, their displays are intended to encourage conversations regarding culture, ancestry, heritage, hierarchy, immigration, gender and personhood.

Tavera said he wants people to understand how Latin people see things in a very specific way. The artists aren’t putting out violence for the sake of violence — but to raise awareness of what they’re personally going through.

“I want people to come with us in this journey and explore a little bit about our culture and what we think is dear to us,” Tavera said.

From 1 to 2 p.m. on Oct. 13, Dr. Karen Mary Davalos, a University of Minnesota professor of Chicano and Latino Studies, will moderate a discussion with the exhibiting artists.

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