Attendees enjoy the The “Rayenari: Light-Based Art Festival” on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the Sunland Park Sports Complex in New Mexico. The show united technology, culture and light.Samuel Gaytan | LoneStarLive.com
Borderland art lovers this past weekend were able to enjoy the “Rayenari: Light-Based Art Festival,” which explored the union of art and technology.
The University of Texas at El Paso Art Department worked with the city of Sunland Park, New Mexico, to produce the art festival. Sunland Park is next to El Paso.
The free event took place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2, at the Sunland Park Sports Complex, 4700 McNutt Road. Rayenari is the word for sun from the Rarámuri, also known as the Tarahumara, who are Indigenous people from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Chihuahua is across the border from El Paso, extending along the Texas border down to Big Bend.
A large sculpture of a catrina greeted attendees at the “Rayenari: Light-Based Art Festival” on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the Sunland Park Sports Complex in New Mexico. The show united technology, culture and light. The catrina fit in perfectly at the event, which took place Nov. 1-2, 2024, over Day of the Dead weekend celebrations.Samuel Gaytan | LoneStarLive.com
UTEP associate professor and artist Angel Cabrales was the executive producer of the event.
Joining him to present the festival were independent curator and director Bianca Cabrales, who is married to Angel Cabrales, and Adrian Santana from Mountain Star Lighting.
A large papier-mâché skull sculpture by the artists known as Xingaderas is shown at the “Rayenari: Light-Based Art Festival” on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the Sunland Park Sports Complex in New Mexico. The show united technology, culture and light. The skull was part of the Day of the Dead parade earlier Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in downtown El Paso. It fit in perfectly with the art exhibition, which took place Nov. 1-2, 2024, over Day of the Dead weekend celebrations.Samuel Gaytan | LoneStarLive.com
Featured artists were Angel Cabrales, Derek Caulfield, Dr. Neon, D-Lite, Ivan Esparza, David Elias Delgado, Dina Perlasca, Quannumthrows, The Arcane Front, Laura Turón and Xingaderas.
The musical group the PIE Sisters performed at the event.
To hear an interview about the festival on KTEP public media, visit https://www.ktep.org/show/state-of-the-arts/2024-10-12/rayenari
Attendees take in a temple-like sculpture at the “Rayenari: Light-Based Art Festival” on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the Sunland Park Sports Complex in New Mexico. The show united technology, culture and light. The sculpture featured a Mexican blanket, candles and a shape that reflects back to artistic, religious shapes used in Indigenous cultures before the arrival of Europeans.Samuel Gaytan | LoneStarLive.com