As a participating artist, Guadalupe Maravilla (b. 1976) uses his practice to explore his personal experience of migration and sickness. It recounts the traumatic story of his clandestine journey from El Salvador to the United States after the civil war in El Salvador and his battle with cancer. His sculptures, paintings, drawings, performances and videos reference a cosmology of symbols that link his own journey to the ancient practices of indigenous peoples, to diverse spiritual and popular beliefs, and to contemporary health crises, military catastrophes and the climate crisis.

Maravilla's installation will be held in a former hospital, the Grand Hôtel-Dieu, a heritage site devoted in days gone by to hospitality and care. Built in the 12th century, it was reconstructed in the 18th century to the plans of Jacques-Germain Soufflot. The Biennale is utilizing this space to display rituals related to the cycles of living creatures–from birth to death–that echo the site’s medical and religious history. In conjunction with the programming of the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie de Lyon, which showcases the cultural, emotional and environmental aspects of cookery, the Lyon Biennale is also introducing new conviviality practices through shared actions and collaborative workshops. In his exhibition space, Maravilla hosted two sound baths. These healing practices used vibrations produced by gongs to cleanse the water in our bodies, which can carry stress, impurities, and, in some cases, diseases.