Quick Facts:

Maricruz Peñaloza's work focuses on theoretical aspects such as identity, communication, body presence and text, as well as on public space as a political platform for what happens in a community. Her main interest lies on migration issues, especially those of women coming from Central America to Mexico across the border in Southern Mexico. Also taking different types of violence into account. She works and moves in a dichotomy of private and public.

Maricruz was born and raised in southern Mexico and lives and works in Zurich. She studied fine arts and photography at F+F Art and Design Zurich and political science at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-I (UAM-I) in Mexico City. 

She works as an artist and curator mainly for performance festivals and international performance events. She is the founder and artistic director of the PERFORMANCE REIHE NEU-OERLIKON, in Zurich, a festival from 2010-2024, and the Performance Open-Air St. Gallen, in St. Gallen, which will have its 5th edition in August 2025. Since 2019 Maricruz is also a board member of the Performance Art Network Switzerland - PANCH and a mentor and coordinator of the student performance festival ACT for the F+F School of Arts and Design Zurich. From 2021-2024 she was part of the radio show with the women's collective Ni Chicha Ni Limoná. Before that she was at Radio Lora 2019-2021.