Jumu

Jurena Muñoz Lagunas, known as urban artist Jumu, was born in Hannover, Germany, in 1990 to Peruvian and Chilean parents. Her early exposure to her architect father's tools, combined with a fascination of bedtime stories for mythology and fantasy fueled her dreams, leading her to sketch monsters and create her own surreal world.

After moving to Mallorca, Spain, Jumu earned a degree in Design Studies from the Universitat de les Illes Balears. Her studies focused on costume design, reflecting her early interest in using volume to narrate stories. Surrounded by creatives from multiple disciplines, she was influenced by graphics — paste-ups, posters, and stickers found in the streets. 

Seeking a new direction in her early adulthood, Jumu co-founded the Guapo Sapo Collective in 2015 with Krashkid and Alex Isakov. The collective painted murals across the globe, including in Germany, Rwanda, Mexico, The Netherlands, Albania, and Georgia. She later moved to Berlin to foster her practice in urban contemporary art, driven by a desire to reconnect with the city's fragmented urban landscape and find a sense of belonging.

As an immigrant raised among a large community of Latin Americans exiled in Germany, Jumu found sanctuary in the historical rhythm of art, music and performance. She painted murals and created stage designs, vinyl covers, and costumes inspired by her heritage. Her identity and creative focus deepened through frequent travels to Peru, Chile, and Mexico, where time spent with her grandparents led her to embrace the wholeness of her ancestry within the indigenous Andean community.

Jumu’s visual practice became a chronicler, documenting the colours and narratives she witnessed. Drawing from the cultural heritage of Abya Yala, she portrays indigenous women as powerful figures of knowledge and resilience. As a person of colour who occupies public spaces, Jumu's bold expressions challenge conventional ideals of beauty and representation.

Still traversing the realms of the studio and street through painting, sculptures, performance and muralism, Jumu's contemporary practice incorporates material experimentation and visual storytelling centering on themes of identity, migration, and ancestral memory. With strokes of vibrant colors and symbolic forms, her work creates a dialogue between contemporary art and communal traditions, honoring cultural continuity and amplifying marginalized voices.

Jumu’s work has been exhibited and commissioned globally, including in France, Mexico, Germany, Jordan, Uganda, Spain, Austria, and India. She has held solo exhibitions at Mommsen35 Gallery (Berlin), DoxsDoks (Cologne), AG18 Gallery (Vienna), and Artroom (Lisbon). Her work has also been featured in group exhibitions at institutions, including the GRASSI Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Leipzig), Skissernas Museum (Lund), and the Weltmuseum Wien. In 2026, she is scheduled to exhibit her work at the Embassy of Peru in Berlin.

Her performances have been hosted at cultural centers like Kampnagel / Theater der Welt (Hamburg), as well as in museum settings in Sweden and Austria. Jumu has participated in international residency programs, notably the Q21 Artist-in-Residence (Vienna) and an EU-supported residency in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Brussels at Kaalo Art Residency (Kathmandu). Her extensive travels have been a source of inspiration, leading her to co-create masks, sculptures, and textile installations with local communities in Latin America, Indonesia, and India. Her next solo exhibition is scheduled to open at Gallery XXL in New Delhi, India, in February 2026.