Sylvia Tenenbaum, a textile artist born in Guatemala City, 1965, explores materials, textures, and cultural heritage in her installations.
A self-taught artist, Sylvia earned a BA in Hispanic Literature and an AA in Fashion Design. She founded her brand ZYLE in New York City, creating innovative scarves and caps. Returning to Guatemala, she was inspired by Mayan ancestral dress, Mesoamerican weaving traditions, and began working with repurposed textiles, blending traditional techniques with contemporary art.
Her notable works include PALOPÓ, a large-scale aerial mosaic, about the community of Santa Catarina Palopó of Lake Atiltlán; it tells a narrative of cultural identity through color, winning the Public’s Choice Medal at the London Design Biennale. Weaving Geographies, represents the Ixil community from northern Guatemala and the department of El Quiché, which still preserve their deeply rooted traditions and character. Lo Innombrable, a memorial piece exhibited at the Holocaust Museum in Guatemala City, is an intricate cartography about the darkest moment in history, elaborated with repurposed circularly sustainable fabrics.
Sylvia’s most recent works are large hand-woven prayer rugs, studies of light–woven on foot looms into fabric that invite spiritual contemplation. These pieces explore the intersection of geography, spirituality, and the human hand, offering a meditation on the sacred, the personal, and the transcendent.
Her art is a testament to the enduring power of textiles as a medium for storytelling and cultural memory, honoring tradition while interweaving it with innovation, welcoming viewers to reflect on the complex relationship between heritage and contemporary life.
Through her work, Sylvia continues to push the boundaries of textile art to create powerful stories of postmodern culture.
artwork
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
"Lo Innombrable, El memorial de las víctimas del Holocausto”, El Museo del Holocausto Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2018
"Territorios personales", Sol del Río, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
“El aliento del cambio” y “cuerpo salpullido”, PuntoDcontemporaneo, Guatemala City, Guatemala
“Weaving Geographies”, Cartografias de la guerra fria en Guatemala , Sol del Rio, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2024
“Silent Witness”, CASA_Aristolochia, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2023
”Gone Beyond”; “Raining Down”, Corporal.Natural.Celestial, SLATOPARRA Gall Miami, U.S.
2022
“Palopó”, Museo Ixchel, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Colectiva dependencia independencia 4, “Universo Celestial”, Sol del Río, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
“Estudios de Mapas Aéreos”, Heritages Et Syncretisme, SLATOPARRA Gallery, Paris, France.
2021
“Sr. Presidente”, Antónimos Umbrales, Galerias Tiffany, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
“Vuelo”, Equinox Contemporary Women’s Art Exhibit, Art City Gallery, Ventura California.
“Xquiq-Santa Maria de Nebaj”, Equinox, Contemporary Women’s Art Exhibit, Art City Gallery, Ventura California.
2020
“Sr. Presidente”, Video, WTA Pre Bienal Online, Chile
“Lo Innombrable, El memorial de las víctimas del Holocausto”, El Museo del Holocausto Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2017
"dependencia independencia 4", Sol del Río, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
"En sus zapatos", Galería Ana Lucía Gomez, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2016
"Weaving Geographies - With Monika Bravo", Arthill Gallery, London, England.
"dependencia independencia 3", Sol del Río, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2015
“The other Art Fair”, London, England.
“Caleidoscopio”, Galería del Centro de Fundacion G&t Continental, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2014
"De Corazón", Galería del Centro de Fundación G&t Continental, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2013
"Vivir de Corazón", Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2017
World Textile Art Bienal, Uruguay.
2018
London Design Biennale, Guatemala pavilion, UK.
Winner of the London Design Biennale 2018 PUBLIC MEDAL voted for by the visitors
“Women weavers:The warp of memory”, Ideobox Artspace, Miami, Fl.
COLLECTIONS
Marriott Courtyard Lobby and Business Center Collection, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Casa de Dios Collection, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Integra Medical Center, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Avita - Torre Centro, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Avita - torre quinta , Guatemala City, Guatemala
Casa Gabriel-Kummerfeld, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Edificio Beitá, Centro Histórico Zona 1, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Casa la chula Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
Casa Habie, Guatemala City, Guatemala
biennial
2025
“Cuerpo en erupción”, XI WTA Biennal, Miami FL
2024
“ Q”uq”umatz (Gucumatz)-San Juan Cotzal-The plumed quetzal-Feathered Serpent, The 15th intl. Biennial Contemporary Textile & Fiber Art, Ivano-Frankivs’k, Ukraine
2018
“PALOPO”, London Design Biennale, Guatemala Pavillion, London, UK.
Winner of the London Design Biennale 2018 PUBLIC MEDAL voted for by the visitors
2017
“Tierra Fertil “, WTA VII Biennial, Montevideo, Uruguay.
residencies
2021
Fiber Residency Program, The Thread Caravan, Oaxaca, México
2025
JOTA Scholar/Artist Fellowship , Maurice and Marilyn Cohen center for modern jewish studies, Brandis University