SANTIAGO BORJA
Mexico, 1970
Received the Fundación Botín Grant in 2005

RGB 1,2 Y 3 (Red, Green, Blue), 2011
Natural wool handwoven on a traditional treadle loom
300 x 200 cm. each
Acquired in 2025

The series of RGB rugs, originally conceived for Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, draws on traditional Indigenous motifs, but this time they are rendered as if they were out-of-register images in four-color offset printing. The misalignment of the inks in the image produces a blurred or imprecise effect, as the color layers do not align and cause the edges of the lines to overlap. In this way, the work seeks to construct a metaphor that explains the misalignment in the gaze toward Indigenous peoples. The perspective held by the Western world will never coincide with the one Indigenous peoples have of themselves.

These rugs, handwoven in wool on pedal looms, were produced by Jerónimo Hernández and Josefina Lazo of the Taller Low-Dain in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.