Following a successful debut in 2018, Art With Me *GNP Presented by Tane returned to Tulum this past April 24-28 with programming across seven core pillars including art, sustainability, music, wellness, culinary, and family as a platform to inspire change. Art With Me *GNP has released the 2019 Recap Video to highlight some of the experiences enjoyed by the many attendees, artists, teachers, and creators traveling from over 50 countries to gather in majestic Tulum.
During the festival, attendees had the chance to explore the region and take in many of the best hotels, restaurants, venues and beaches for diverse offerings that included concerts, art exhibitions, culinary experiences, Indigenous art culture and ceremonies, workshops, and more throughout five unforgettable days. The festival brought even more life and beauty to Tulum than usual with arts installations spread all across the beach and town including Aldea Zama by Faena.
Art highlights included AGAUE By Michael Benisty, which focussed on the connection between the human world, the depths of our oceans, and the spirited stories from Greek Mythology. For his second contribution to Art With Me *GNP, the one and only Daniel Popper returned to present ASANA which greeted guests at the entrance to the beach pavilion throughout the festival. And festival founder David Graziano collaborated with Martin Russocki to present ‘It’s A-Maze-Ing’, a large-scale, immersive installation on the beach in front of Ahau.
Art With Me *GNP also featured the launch of Alchemistry by IK Lab, with Kelly Akashi, Bianca Bondi, and Rochelle Goldberg and showcased IK Lab Uh May during the festival, which highlighted the beautiful work of Ernesto Neto, Oskar Metsavaht, and Paulo Nazareth.
Tulum Art Club invited 8 indigenous artists to connect, create installations, offer workshops and inaugurate the exhibit To’ on Ajpat O‘ob (We the Creators). These pieces by Jun Tiburcio, Maruch Mendez, Beatriz Poot, Ana María Herrera, Gerardo K´ulej , The Gutierrez Family, The Espadas Family, Fermin Dzib May and Atun Kojtom, offer their vision through a constant flow of magical realism and dualities that feed the amazement.
Music highlights included performances from Bob Moses and Bedouin on the beach and Jan Blomqvist and The Band performing at Ahua. Monolink performed an incredible live set on our stage at Aldea Zama, presented by Faena. Another standout moment was an intimate performance from the Eduardo Castillo-led group Mardeleva featuring Data Garden at Habitas. Audiences surrounded the artists from all directions while enjoying euphoric sounds together in a breathtaking and peaceful setting.
For their sustainability-focused Care With Me program, Art With Me *GNP hosted beach clean ups, presented talks and workshops on sustainability, featured recycled art, and will continue supporting the development and implementation of a Solid Waste Management Plan for Tulum, eliminating single use plastics, and much more. Care With Me also raised money to offset 50% of the festival’s carbon footprint. This was focused on the carbon impact of attendees, artists and production air and ground transportation, festival energy requirements, catering, and accommodation. More info on the program here.
As part of the festival’s Give WIth Me program, a concert was hosted on the first night featuring famed Mexican band Bronco. Attendees were asked to bring 15 recyclable plastic bottles, Tetra Paks, or aluminum cans in exchange for free tickets to the concert. The goal of the concert and this ticket method was to encourage everyone to reduce the use of single-use plastics and to recycle. The concert was attended by 7,000 people and one ton of containers were collected and recycled.
(Feature image by Peter Ruprecht Studios)