Since its founding 21 years ago, the art fair ZsONAMACO has expanded not only itself but the annual art week in Mexico City that’s sprouted around it. Pop ups, artist-run projects, gallery openings, and several other fairs—including Material, Salón Acme, and the collectible design fair UDX—now drive collectors, artists, and visitors from this hemisphere and beyond to the city every February. In the words of ZsONAMACO founder Zélika García, the fair “has consolidated Mexico City as a meeting point for the international artistic scene.”

As the anchoring fair, ZsONAMACO has likewise added a variety of fairs-within-fairs: for design, art books, antiques, and so on. In 2009, the fair created its Sur section, initially conceived to highlight artists and galleries from the Global South. Sur’s current edition, per García, “reaffirms its mission as a laboratory of ideas and formats, showcasing artists and galleries that embrace disruptive approaches and innovative conceptual explorations.” To realize this mission, ZsONAMACO tapped Quito-born, New York–based curator Manuela Moscoso, the Executive and Artistic Director of Manhattan’s Center for Art, Research, and Alliances (CARA), to select 21 galleries. “This edition brings together projects that engage with curatorial approaches and hybrid artistic processes, underscoring the role of art in knowledge production and the construction of new social imaginaries,” García explains. Galleries from across the world—from the Americas to Austria to Taiwan—showcased works by artists working in many media and modes.

To learn more, Document chatted with Moscoso about ever-shifting curatorial ecosystems.

Drew Zeiba: You’ve worked on biennials, including the 2020 Liverpool Biennial, at museums like the Queens Museum and the Tamayo, and at experimental institutions like CARA. How do you relate your practice as a curator to the context of an art fair?

Manuela Moscoso: Curation takes many forms, and each invitation comes with its own conditions, limitations, and possibilities. Working within an art fair means engaging with artists and galleries in a transactional setting, but art is never separate from the broader ecosystem in which it exists. Galleries play a crucial role in providing artists with platforms to expand their practice and connect with collectors, professionals, and those who simply love art. In this context, curators offer a perspective—establishing a point of view, drawing connections that might not otherwise emerge, and sharing networks. These are all essential aspects of how artistic ecosystems function.

The fair has its own parameters for participation, so the first step is to identify artists and galleries that could benefit from this context. Some connections come from long-standing relationships, others emerge through recognizing potential synergies, and some arise from direct dialogue with the fair itself.

Drew: What was the starting point for you? How did you set out organizing this section for ZsONAMACO?

Manuela: I always begin with what is closest—my existing relationships. From there I weave outward, considering who might resonate with this context. The process grows organically from that foundation.

Drew: How did you work with the participating galleries and artists?

Manuela: It varies case by case. Sometimes it’s about contributing resources or considering how a work might be best presented. In other instances, it’s about making introductions, facilitating conversations, and creating the right conditions for engagement.

Drew: You were the senior curator at Mexico City’s Museo Tamayo until 2018. How has Mexico City’s art world evolved in your eyes? Where do you see your work with ZsONAMACO fitting into it?

Manuela: I arrived in Mexico City in 2015, and 10 years is a long time for any city—change is inevitable. Every time I return, I fall in love with it again, though my relationship with the city has shifted. Now, I visit rather than live there, so while I’ve spent enough time to recognize some of the changes, I wouldn’t claim to offer a definitive portrait. What I can say for certain is that we’ve all gotten a little older.

Drew: How do your various curatorial projects, including your work with CARA, fit into your broader practice? Are they part of a continuum, or do you see them as distinct?

Manuela: They are all connected. Each project requires different resources and skills—different muscles, so to speak—but they are part of the same practice.