SOMA was founded in Mexico City in November 2009 at the initiative of a group of artists who had joined forces, resulting in a unique platform in the cultural field. SOMA is an organization dedicated to cultural exchange and arts pedagogy. SOMA departs from the same interests that, more than a decade ago, motivated its founders to collaborate in spaces of contemporary art production and dissemination, such as La Panedería or Temístocles 44. SOMA is supported by a core group of artists and advisors, including critics, curators and other professionals in the cultural field. SOMA’s task is to build a platform to collectively investigate what art can become and how it can work in different contexts. The pedagogical program seeks to create a space for horizontal, collective interaction and critical thinking, taking into account the many different creative communities of Mexico City. SOMA facilities are not designed for the production or promotion of work. SOMA is a space for reconsideration and reflection, where students and participants have the opportunity to critically analyze their proposals and where revisiting the creative processes is encouraged. SOMA’s mission is to promote dialogue and discourse in our society and tracking the professional development of emerging artists.

As part of their artistic study program they came to El Ganzo to explore, experiment and imprint their art. In the bedroom each of the 12 students made an individual participation bringing his or her own unique touch to the space. A phrase shown in the cushions as a criticism of massive tourism. Series of photos that explores the angles formed in the images. A white fan blade that blends into the ceiling, a way of subtracting an element instead of adding. Repetitive design made with graphite on wall and ceiling. Circuits of lines drawn directly on the wall with acrylic and color pencil creating new forms as the lines cross. The map of Baja California simulates it as an island apart from Mexico and the US, playing with the idea of being an independent country as a consequence of possible geographical separation. The use of synthetic leather on room accessories such as handles as a way to decontextualize the original use of the material. A "top secret" sign on an unused door that makes you wonder what goes on on the other side. All these particular interventions add to collectively create one single and complex art piece ODILE: Collective piece of the class of SOMA 2016 For this installation, the artists from SOMA were looking to re-configure the use of certain objects that might be consider as waste. Working specifically with materials that were left unusable after hurricane Odile; the artists used the forms and meanings of these objects to give them a second chance and a place to live inside Hotel El Ganzo. Pieza colectiva de la generación 2016 de SOMA Para esta instalación, los artistas de SOMA buscaron re-configurar el uso de ciertos objetos que podrían considerarse como de deshecho. Trabajando específicamente con materiales que quedaron en desuso tras la llegada del huracán Odile; los artistas replantearon las formas y significados de estos objetos para volverles a dar un lugar y una estancia dentro del hotel El Ganzo. Bolas de Arena: In some way this work references the impossibility of maintaining inside a room some balls made of sand, which natural space would be the beach. The spontaneous gesture remains frozen like a photographic memory, this links the work to the ideas of souvenir and memories. De alguna manera el trabajo se acerca a la imposibilidad de mantener en un interior unas bolas de arena cuyo espacio natural sería la playa. El gesto espontáneo queda congelado como en un recuerdo fotográfico, esto vincula al trabajo con las ideas de souvenir y memoria. SIN TITULO: Collective piece of the class of SOMA 2016 The windows frame what happens on both sides of the wall. Coming from a sutil gesture, this piece seeks to emphasize the pictorial and photographic frame. This work is part of an investigation on image, which main goal is to invite the spectator to observe his surroundings and the reality that creates them. Pieza colectiva de la generación 2016 de SOMA Las ventanas enmarcan lo que sucede de ambos lados del muro. A partir de un sutil gesto, esta pieza busca enfatizar el encuadre tanto pictórico como fotográfico. Esta obra forma parte de una investigación sobre la imagen, y busca invitar al espectador a observar su entorno y la realidad que lo conforma. Room 223: Installation over the room number. Intervention by SOMA artists A small stain of fluorescent color, a sphere created with sand, which connects to the first part of the hallway and elevator, and the Polaroid picture of the group that stay in the room for a week, are three elements that seek to invite the guest spectator into the world that the SOMA artists were able to create in this room. Habitación 223: Instalación sobre el número de la habitación intervenida por los artistas de SOMA Una pequeña mancha de pintura color fluorescente, una esfera creada con arena que se conecta al inicio del pasillo y al elevador, y la fotografía Polaroid que retrata al grupo que habitó el espacio durante una semana, son los tres elementos que buscan invitar al huésped espectador hacia el mundo que los artistas de SOMA lograron generar en esta habitación intervenida.