San Diego is crisscrossed by canyons, with urban development threatening the land’s delicate ecosystems more each year. This fall, Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) presents Future Rituals & La Eco-Resistencia, a multimedia exhibition by Mexican-born artist Francisco Eme that explores the tension between urbanization and native ecology in San Diego’s suburban canyons. On view October 25, 2025, through March 15, 2026, the exhibition features five years of photographs, videos, sound recordings, and collected artifacts documenting one canyon’s quiet resistance to the sprawl surrounding it.
When Francisco and his wife Monica moved into their suburban San Diego home, the wild slope behind their house looked barren and uninhabitable. However, during the pandemic, Francisco turned his attention to this canyon, removing invasive species, nurturing native plants, and observing the movements and calls of its animal life. What emerged was a years-long ecological and artistic investigation into what he calls the canyon’s “eco-resistance.”
As a composer, producer, and multimedia artist in San Diego, Francisco primarily works with sound, so in creating Future Rituals & La Eco-Resistencia, he collaborated with biologists, botanists, and Mexican artisans to produce the diverse works in the show. The resulting installation is an immersive, multi-sensory experience that honors the ecosystem through audio, large-scale video, sculpture, and more, connecting viewers to unseen activity in the canyon.
“This exhibition tries to understand nature as a system that we are part of, highlighting the importance of keeping a more balanced relationship with it,” explains Francisco. “I’m interested in collaborations with Mexican and Indigenous craftsmen and artists, connections that promote folklife, and traditions more in balance with our environment. I combine those traditions with electronic art and contemporary technology that is relevant to today.”
OMA will host an Exhibition Celebration on Saturday, November 22, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, where the community is invited to meet the artist and celebrate OMA’s current exhibitions.
About Oceanside Museum of Art
Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) is a non-profit organization that began providing exhibitions and public programs in 1995 as part of their mission to bring people together to explore the art and stories of Southern California artists. OMA’s exhibition program is dynamic and robust, surprising visitors with a fresh and exciting visual experience nearly every visit. In addition to these boundary-pushing contemporary art exhibitions, OMA’s programming includes youth education programs, adult art classes, concerts, films, and creative community parties and events that appeal to locals and tourists alike. The OMA experience stimulates imagination, presents new ideas, and challenges the familiar in a welcoming environment for those new to art, longtime museum-goers, artists, art students, or simply the curious. For more information on Oceanside Museum of Art, visit www.oma-online.org
