THE WORMHOLES PROJECT
Developed over more than ten years, The Wormholes Project takes insect-bored books in the Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa (Oaxaca) as its point of departure. It explores how traces of nonhuman life can open unforeseen connections between matter, language, memory, and time.
This section brings together two strands of the project: documentation of The Book and its Wtinesses —an exhibition presented at the Burgoa Library between May and July 2025—and a selection of photographs of wormholed books housed at the Burgoa.
Dianna Frid wishes to acknowledge the significant support she received from the
Canada Council for the Arts through a long-term project grant. In 2023, she also received generous support from donors to 3AP through 3Arts (Chicago). Earlier, in 2020, Dianna Frid received a seed funding for this project from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research.
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My sincere gratitude extends to all the librarians and custodians of books who work at the Biblioteca Fray Francisco de Burgoa in the city of Oaxaca. I am especially grateful to Dr. María Isabel Grañén Porrúa. Her many invitations to think about and with these books will always be treasured. Since 2014, Penélope Orozco Sánchez has welcomed my endless requests to handle these wormholed books. I am grateful for her patience and hospitality. Elvia Acosta Zamora, who later joined the Burgoa team, encouraged me with her enthusiasm by finding even more books with holes during each of my visits. Eduardo Vargas Méndez (Don Lalo) takes care of these books. I witnessed his devotion. The books in these photographs are housed at the Burgoa Library Collection. They belong to the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca and have been photographed with the institution’s permission.
Please do not download or reproduce any of these images without inquiring first at diannafrid[at]gmail[dot]com.
—Dianna Frid