Alum Alejandra Rivero Discusses Her Fulbright Trip to Paraguay
Every year, the Fulbright Program sends fellows all over the world to study and create—and this year, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) alum Alejandra Rivero (MFA 2024) joins their ranks. With a background in graphic design working with companies like Warner Bros., Paramount, DreamWorks, and Starbucks, the Los Angeles–raised artist continues to explore multidisciplinary studies. Her journey now takes her to Itauguá, Paraguay, where she will immerse herself in Paraguayan culture and share the beauty of the Ñandutí lace-making technique.
What will you be focusing on during your Fulbright fellowship? Where will you be traveling?
I’ll be based in Itauguá, Paraguay—the birthplace of Ñandutí, which means spiderweb in Guarani, a traditional lace-making technique that has been passed down for generations. My project focuses on learning this delicate craft, which is much more than ornamental. Each Ñandutí design often symbolizes a medicinal plant, so in many ways, it functions as a visual archive of ancestral knowledge.
What called you to apply to the fellowship program?
The Fulbright felt like a natural extension of my artistic journey. While earning my MFA, I was encouraged to apply by professors and peers who saw a connection between cultural and community-based elements in my work. As someone deeply invested in sustainability and preserving traditional practices, the fellowship offered a powerful platform to explore those themes through direct cultural exchange.
What do you hope to accomplish during this fellowship?
One of my key goals is to learn and complete 23 traditional Ñandutí designs—many of which represent medicinal plants native to Paraguay. I’ll also be collecting those plants in their natural habitats, documenting their stories, and learning Guaraní, the Indigenous language still spoken as a second language in Paraguay. The culmination of this experience will be a trilingual book—in English, Spanish, and Guaraní—featuring the lace designs, plant descriptions, and oral histories from the community. I hope to end the project with an art installation created in collaboration with local artists.
What do you hope people extract from your art?
I want people to appreciate the Ñandutí—to see its beauty, but also its role as a cultural identity. It’s not just a lace technique; it’s a living practice that holds memory, identity, and resilience. Through my work, I hope to amplify those stories and invite others to reflect on the power of craft and community.
How do you see your practice evolving over the course of the fellowship?
I see this as a transformative chapter, as I always believed in the power of materials to carry meaning. I’ll be immersed in an environment where every thread and pattern tells a story. I expect the tactile, rhythmic nature of Ñandutí will influence not just my techniques, but how I think about time, memory, and collaboration. It’s a chance to slow down, listen deeply, and allow my practice to grow in dialogue with place, people, and tradition.
Follow Alejandra’s journey and upcoming projects on Instagram @art_jandra and at alejandrarivero.com
This year's Distinguished Alumni Lecturer Pablo Helguera talks about the process and history behind his latest MCA curation.
The Mayfly Conference, workshop/performance at the Chalupecky Society, Prague, 2017. Overlaid with imagery of MCA Chicago visitors interacting with Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s “Untitled” (The End), 1990. Graphic by Sophia Salganicoff, image courtesy of Pablo Helguera.
A collage-style graphic blending a photograph of a group discussion with layered cut-out imagery. In the photo, participants sit in a circle, with one person speaking into a microphone. Overlaid are large illustrated sheets of paper and tinted green silhouettes of the audience, referencing MCA Chicago visitors interacting with Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s work “Untitled” (The End), 1990.