SARA FLORES

Flores’s artistic practice is deeply informed by her ancestral and cultural heritage and the interconnectivity of the Amazonian ecosystem, and she is recognised as one of the foremost contemporary artists emerging from the Amazonian basin.

In 2026, Flores was selected to represent Peru at the 61st Venice Biennale.

Early Years

Flores was born in 1950 in the Shipibo-Conibo community of Tanbo Mayo along the Ucayali River in the Peruvian Amazon. Her Shipibo name, Soi Biri, means ‘well done’ or ‘precisely drawn’. Flores began learning Kené from her mother at an early age, absorbing the matrilineal techniques and spiritual philosophies that underpin her work. She is based in Pucallpa, Peru, and continues to collaborate with her daughters in the creation of her works.

Sara Flores Artworks

Flores’s art is defined by the creation of Kené—complex, hand-drawn geometric designs that are central to the artistic expression and cultural heritage of the Shipibo-Conibo people.

Kené: Visionary Design

Kené, which shares etymological links to the Shipibo verb kéenti (‘to love’ or ‘to care for’), is believed to have originated with the ancient ‘Incas’ of the Shipibo, mythological figures who received these patterns through visions and observations of nature. Designs are often inspired by visions experienced in shamanic rituals and by the organic forms of the Amazonian environment. Flores’s works map neural, psychological, elemental, and ecological networks, and are created using natural dyes sourced from her immediate surroundings

Dior Collaboration and the Princess Diana Connection

In 2024, Flores was invited by Dior to participate in the 9th edition of the Lady Dior Art Project, joining a select group of international artists to reinterpret the iconic Lady Dior bag—originally popularised by Princess Diana. Other artists featured in the project include Jeffrey Gibson, Huang Yuxing, Liang Yuanwei, Danielle McKinney, Duy Anh Nhan Duc, Hayal Pozanti, Faith Ringgold, Vaughn Spann, Anna Weyant and Woo Kukwon. Flores created two unique versions of the bag, crafted from vegan pineapple leather and hand-painted tocuyo cotton using vegetal dyes, reflecting Shipibo-Conibo cosmology and a commitment to environmental responsibility. The collaboration has amplified the global visibility of Shipibo-Conibo art and highlighted its place in contemporary fashion and culture.

Material and Process

Flores uses plant-based dyes sourced from the Amazon, including black from tree bark, purple from Amí leaves, red from Achiote fruit, and yellow from Guisdor root. Her process is entirely freehand, with no preparatory sketches, and is deeply tied to the land and its changing ecology.

Community and Collaboration

Flores co-founded Maroti Shobo, the first women’s cooperative among the Shipibo, supporting Indigenous economic and cultural autonomy. Through collaborations with organisations like the Shipibo Conibo Center, her art also funds environmental activism and Indigenous resistance in the Amazon.

Exhibitions

Sara Flores has been the subject of both solo exhibitions and group exhibitions at important institutions and galleries. Below is a selection of important exhibitions.

Solo Exhibitions

• Peru Pavilion, 61st Venice Biennale, Arsenale, Venice, Sara Flores. From Other Worlds (2026), 9 May–22 November 2026 — Peru’s national pavilion, curated by Issela Ccoyllo and Matteo Norzi; Flores is the first Indigenous artist to represent Peru at Venice
• Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), Sara Flores. Non Nete. A Dream for an Indigenous Nation (2025)—her first institutional solo exhibition.
• White Cube Bermondsey, London, Bakish Mai (2025)—her first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom, debuting her first film work and new paintings from the ‘Pei Kené’ series.
• White Cube (2023)
• CLEARING, New York (2023)
• CLEARING, New York (2022)
• White Cube Online (2021)

Group Exhibitions

• Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris, France (2023)
• Para Site, Hong Kong (2023)
• El Museo del Barrio, New York, USA (2023)
• Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, Netherlands (2023)
• Inca Garcilaso Cultural Center and MAC Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima, Peru (2022)
• Sala Luis Miró Quesada Garland, Lima, Peru (2021)
• Drawing Lab, Paris, France (2020)
• Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, USA (2018)

Sara Flores FAQs

Ocula | 2026