Kia ix Arriaga

Kia ix Arriaga is an Aztec dancer and multidisciplinary artist from Mexico. She works as a visual artist and cultural educator and is known for her multimedia installations, which include ceramics, drawing, traditional sand painting, and metalsmithing. For the past 20 years, Arriaga has installed Día de Muertos ofrendas in prestigious venues, including the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). Arriaga is merging her skills as an installation artist and Aztec dancer to develop educational programs that explore Aztec culture through performance, music, art-making, and storytelling. An essay on her work is featured in the book Essay’d 2: 30 Detroit Artists (2017, Wayne State University Press).