Experience Guadalupe Maravilla’s Healing Sound Baths at Home

Guadalupe Maravilla describes his current exhibition at MoMA, Luz y fuerza, as a “space of healing.” Inspired by Mesoamerican myths, Salvadoran traditions, and his experience as a refugee fleeing civil war, Maravilla combines readymade objects with natural and fine-art materials in works that resemble shrines or altars. Five of the sculptures called Disease Throwers on view in Luz y fuerza include gongs. They can be activated by Maravilla or a collaborator, creating an immersive sound bath with the potential for healing.

While undergoing treatment for cancer, Maravilla was introduced to sound therapy, a healing practice that uses vibrations produced by instruments. According to the artist, this practice “cleanse[s] the water in our bodies, which can carry stress, impurities, and, in some cases, diseases.” Now a trained sound healer, Maravilla regularly holds therapeutic sound baths for undocumented immigrants, cancer patients, and others in need. The gongs are tuned to specific frequencies intended to resonate with the moon and other planets in our solar system. Over the course of this exhibition, the artist will be regularly activating the sculptures in immersive sound bath sessions that visitors can sign up to attend.

You can experience Maravilla’s sound baths wherever you are—in both English and Spanish—by listening to the audio recordings below. The artist will guide you through the process.
—Paulina Pobocha, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, and Martha Joseph, The Phyllis Ann and Walter Borten Assistant Curator, Department of Media and Performance Art