Upon walking in to the Arts of Resistance exhibit at the Museum of Anthropology, you are immediately drawn to the vibrant colours and textures displayed by the art. Through the pieces in the exhibit, we are able to see various aspects of the lives of Latin American people, such as economics, politics, social interactions and structures, private and public life, family, etc. Colour, texture, size and pattern are just a few examples of how the artists of the various pieces communicated these stories behind the pieces.  As alluded to on the exhibit’s website, the Latin American people “…use traditional or historical art forms to express contemporary political realities.” (MOA).

The object that caught my attention was an Amate drawing done by Alejandra Cruz Pérez from Mexico. Amate is, according to Heather Matthew, author of the ‘Paperslurry‘ blog, “…a pre-Columbian, indigenous papermaking tradition that survives in the small village of San Pablito.” (Matthew) and is historically made from birch bark (Sunnucks). The drawing on this piece of amate depicts “…the incentives used by local politicians to buy votes.” (Sannucks). The extreme attention to detail and the almost microscopic fine lines of the piece are what drew me to want to analyze it.

It is evident that the lives and experiences of those depicted in and who created the art in this exhibit are much different from what many of us have experienced in regards to, as mentioned above, economics, politics, social interactions and structures, private and public life, family, and much more. As this piece is demonstrating how local politicians buy votes in this community, and possibly many more, it is reasonable to use our political knowledge to describe the political and perhaps even social aspects of this moment in history. Knowing basic definitions of political concepts and ideologies, it can be argued that hegemony can be seen in this piece. Hegemony can be defined as “Political, social and economic domination.” (Garner, et al., 435). From observing this piece, it is visible that it is depicting certain groups (social, political, economic, etc). interaction within a community. Hegemony can describe just how the politicians are buying votes through their political, social and economic dominance.

Equally as notable in relation to the concept of life narratives, are, as mentioned in ASTU section G01, is the concept of layout and design. Although in ASTU we talked about these elements in relation to pieces of writing such as memoirs, I think these concepts and their significance can also carry over to other pieces of work, like this drawing. In Hillary Chute’s work The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”, she talks about the significance of layout and placement and how these can alter the perception of someone interpreting the piece in question. When taking these aspects into consideration while thinking about the amate drawing, we can maintain that the fine lines and placement of objects and people has an effect on how the story of these politicians buying votes can be told. For example, we could argue that the extremely fine lines and detail used to execute this piece speak to the intricacy of the political and governmental systems in these societies.

To summarize, the Amate drawing by Mexican artist Alejandra Cruz Pérez depicts a scene in which politicians are using incentives to buy votes from their people. This piece ties in elements of life narratives, such as politics describing how certain societies are governed, as well as how the physical design and layout choices can alter the perception of a piece.

Works Cited

“Arts of Resistance.” Museum of Anthropology at UBC, moa.ubc.ca/exhibition/arts-of-resistance/.

Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis.’” Women’s Studies Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1/2, 2008, pp. 92–110. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27649737.

Garner, Robert, et al. Introduction to Politics. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2017.

“Home.” Museum of Anthropology at UBC, moa.ubc.ca/.

Matthwes, Heather. “Hand Papermaking in Mexico: Amate Paper & Traditional Mayan Techniques.” Paperslurry, 23 July 2015, www.paperslurry.com/2015/07/23/hand-papermaking-in-mexico-amate-paper-traditional-mayan-techniques/.