What is TONO, the festival that reveals a constellation of visionary artists?
The third edition of the TONO festival takes over Mexico City and Puebla with installations, performances and new previews.
The TONO festival , now a must-see in the Mexican artistic landscape, returns this year with a bold program that brings together more than twenty artists and collectives from all over the world. Taking place from March 25 to April 6, museums in Mexico City and Puebla have been transformed into sensory laboratories where video, performance, dance and music intersect.
A dialogue between East and West
Among the international figures to watch, Uzbek artist Saodat Ismailova makes a remarkable debut in Mexico with her video Melted into the Sun . Her work, which blends poetry, archives, and spirituality, explores the tensions between collective memory and modernity. Her presence at TONO reflects the festival's commitment to building bridges between Central Asia and Latin America.
In a more experimental vein, Paris-based composer and performer Adam Linder presents a performance-conference supported by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. His hybrid approach, combining dance, speech, and music, embodies the festival's transversal nature.
Mexican voices in full swing
The festival also highlights the local scene with artists such as Paloma Contreras Lomas and Carolina Fusilier . Together, they created a poignant installation, ¿Cómo se escribe muerte al sur? , which questions colonial legacies and systemic violence. Their works, presented at the Museo Anahuacalli, combine sculpture, drawing, and performance to create a space for reflection on contemporary struggles.
At the Laboratorio Arte Alameda , the duo Korakrit Arunanondchai and Alex Gvojic unveil Songs for Living , an immersive work that blends ghost voices and political narratives. Alongside them, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané offers Drench , a sensory dive into the memory of Tijuca National Park, while Luiz Roque , with Clube Amarelo , questions queer imaginations through cinematographic vignettes.
Performances and projections
Performance has taken center stage this year. Bárbara Sánchez-Kane , in collaboration with MUDAM Luxembourg, presents a new creation that questions gender and power norms. Jota Mombaça , meanwhile, offers a performance co-produced with Wiels, to be discovered at Casa del Lago. Finally, Eartheater and Freeka Tet unveil a new video followed by a live performance, merging electronic music and visual arts.
The screening program, in partnership with MoMA's Sophie Cavoulacos, highlights iconic artistic collectives of 1980s New York, offering a historical perspective on collective dynamics in art.
An international platform
TONO is not limited to Mexican borders. In collaboration with the Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian, the festival offers a selection of videos to discover in Lisbon . This international outreach demonstrates the festival's ambition to create dialogues between global art scenes.
With this third edition, TONO confirms its role as a catalyst for a contemporary artistic scene that is plural, inclusive and resolutely forward-looking.
