Allie's ASTU Blog

Curated by Laura Osorio Sunnucks, Arts of Resistance: Politics and the Past in Latin America has been held in UBC’s Museum of Anthropology since May, 2018. An exhibit that “illustrates how communities in Latin America use traditional or historical art forms to express contemporary political realities” (https://moa.ubc.ca/exhibition/arts-of-resistance/) , it looks at political turmoil in Latin America through a modern lens. Through a collection ranging from textiles to children’s drawings to intricate masks, the exhibit conveys the systemic political issues that much of Latin America faces to this day. As explained by the walls, display cards, and pamphlets, the exhibit seeks to help visitors understand the political and social significance of these artistic traditions, in history and today.

As I entered the exhibit, I was almost immediately struck by the section entitled “The Defence of Maize,” with its Banksy-esque stencils and the striking image of an indigenous woman holding a shotgun. As soon as I finished reading the section’s sign, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about for this blog. Having spent a few summers volunteering at an orphanage in the Ngong Hills of Kenya, maize had accounted for at least 80% of my diet, and it came as no surprise to read that maize agriculture was at the root of early Mesoamerican civilizations and important to many of Mexico’s agricultural communities. I had lived in a community that’s well-being was based on how good or bad their maize crops and the maize market was that season, and could understand why it was something worth “defending.”

Me, eating maize and beans

Not only did I connect with this installation in this way, but also in the information that followed. The aforementioned indigenous woman has her shotgun pointed at scientists, who had genetically engineered cheaper, less nutritious, transgenic maize, flooding the market and taking the profit from Mexico’s poorest agricultural communities. To understand why I felt a connection to this, you’ll need a little backstory. I’m an (intended) Environmental Sustainability major, and much of what inspired my major (and my attendance at UBC in general), was a book called The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change. It tells the story of four African farmers, fighting against the hunger season along with the One Acre Fund, a non-profit that teaches sustainable and modern farming techniques in African countries. The book details the theory that in order to fight poverty in general in third world countries,  it needs to start with farmers in order to be able to support the growing population, stimulate the economy, etc. I immediately drew a connection when I saw this exhibit, and seeing that the Mexican government and transatlantic companies were exploiting the indigenous people rather than helping them (and the country overall), honestly made me pretty angry. On top of this, the less advanced state of most farmers in third world countries is one of the long term effects of colonialism, and hundreds of years later, the situation is still being made worse.

Curator Laura Osorio Sunnucks commented on how this piece linked prehispanic imagery (it’s traditional pattern in the background and the dress of the indigenous woman) with modern issues (transgenic maize farming). This particular piece stands out as trying to serve the didactic function of inspiring the indigenous empowerment, and standing out against the injustices imposed upon them. It was interesting to see how the traditional art elements were incorporated to make a modern call to action.

I was extremely impressed by how well this exhibit connected me, a white, privileged, American, with the struggles of Latin Americans. It inspired emotions and allowed me to draw connections with my past experiences, something I thing all museum exhibits should strive to do. Through it’s unique combination of traditional Latin American art with modern political conflicts, it effectively connected me, a complete outsider, with the social significance of art and modern issues.

All photography and references of work are attributed to https://moa.ubc.ca/exhibition/arts-of-resistance/.