In-Person

uYAKu: Sonido Líquido

Thu Feb 5, 2026 12:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m.
Felipe Ledesma molding a vessel
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https://ism.yale.edu/events/2026-02-05-uyaku-sonido-liquido
Miller Hall
406 Prospect Street New Haven, CT 06511
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  • General Public

uYAKu: Sonido Líquido, an exhibition curated by ISM fellow Felipe Ledesma Núñez, will be on view at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music’s Miller Hall at 406 Prospect Street, New Haven from February 5 - March 5 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12 - 4 p.m.

uYAKu: Sonido Líquido presents an exploration of the acoustics and metaphysics of water and clay through a set of whistling bottles, created after the discovery of the only known archival record of their use.

Double-chamber whistling bottles are among the most mysterious of archaeological artifacts. Inside, they contain intricate acoustic mechanisms capable of producing sound on their own, revealing a technical and spiritual knowledge that remains only partially understood. Although thousands of these vessels have been found, their purpose remains a mystery.

This exhibition presents the only known historical record of their use: a seventeenth-century manuscript describing a whistling bottle in the form of a woman, venerated by a community in the Andean highlands. This vessel was not merely a ritual object; it embodied an ancestral progenitor, an Andean mother whose voice was audibly present.

Inspired by this ancestral figure, the exhibition brings together sound sculptures created by contemporary Latin American artists that reactivate the acoustic vitality of these ancient technologies. The works engage with the resonant past, exploring how clay, air, and water remain carriers of memory.

Featuring works by Felipe Ledesma, Genaro López, Daniel Mezones, and Samuel Tejeda.

Free and open to the public.

Co-sponsored by the ISM and the Yale Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies.

Installation: Ellis Berwick

All are welcome to join us for an opening reception for this exhibit on Wednesday, February 4 at 5 p.m.

We are excited to announce that the ISM will be linking its exhibitions to the Smartify app. The app is available as a free download from the App Store and Google Play, or you can access content through the ISM's page on Smartify. The Smartify app will allow you to directly scan artworks that are on display, as well as QR codes that are placed around the exhibition, to receive more information. You will also be able to save your favorite artworks and share them to social media.

Contact: Anesu Nyamupingidza

Photo: Felipe Ledesma molding a vessel, 2025

Bios:

Felipe Ledesma Núñez

Felipe Ledesma Núñez is an Ecuadorian sculptor and historian of sound whose work engages the Andean colonial archive and its sonic traces through the creation of ceramic sound artifacts. Ledesma earned a PhD in musicology from Harvard University and is now a fellow at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Genaro López Quijije

Genaro López Quijije is a ceramic artist from La Pila, Ecuador, a community renowned for its long-standing ceramic heritage. López learned the craft within the family and has worked with clay since youth, developing hand-built techniques grounded in pre-Columbian forms. López’s prolific practice centers on the study and recreation of ancestral figures and vessels, contributing to the continuity of ancient ceramic practices as a living, place-based tradition.

Daniel Mezones Quijije

Daniel Mezones Quijije is a ceramic artist from La Pila, Ecuador, and the archaeological collections specialist at the Museo Arqueológico y de Arte Contemporáneo (MAAC) in Guayaquil. With nearly five decades of experience working with clay, Mezones bridges artisanal knowledge with conservation and museographic practice. Mezones has worked extensively with archaeological collections at museums in coastal Ecuador and mantained a longstanding collaboration with archaeologist Dorothy Hosler (MIT). Deeply committed to public education, Mezones leads ceramic workshops and stewards Ecuador’s ceramic heritage through both preservation and transmission.

Samuel Tejeda Ramírez

Samuel Tejeda Ramírez is an artist and researcher whose practice engages Mesoamerican craft traditions across clay, metal, wood, bone, amber, and leather. Tejeda trained in ceramics and jewelry at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and studied ethnology at the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Tejeda’s practice integrates formal experimentation with anthropological inquiry to explore Indigenous technologies, cosmologies, and ritual. Tejeda has exhibited nationally and internationally, and leads Ichtli Maori Studio in Mexico City, dedicated to ceramic research, teaching, and creation.

Felipe Ledesma Núñez molding a vessel