Images of maize in latin culture are extremely important because they tie back to the roots of civilization in the hearths of Mesoamerica. The cultivation of maize has empowered people for centuries, and with the spread of corn, indigenous communities can feel pride in their ancestors. The history of maize is pre-hispanic, and pre-hispanic history is often told around maize, because they are the originators of such an influential crop. More recently companies started producing genetically modified seeds and selling them to farmers, who had been breeding their corn for thousands of years. This not only had economic effects on farmers, but it shifted the history of maize out of their hands.
Current artists are still using maize to tell stories and some example of contemporary work by indigenous people are located at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. The symbol is being used in the “Arts of Resistance”, curated by Laura Osorio Sunnucks, to exemplify the west and the white man’s exploitation of indigenous people. Although graffiti is not a traditional art form, there is a tradition of telling pieces of stories through still images. The political reality is that transgenic maize is affecting local markets, because it is cheap and the profits are leaving Mexico. This story is being told on the walls of buildings in Oaxaca Mexico through the stencils of an indigenous woman pointing a rifle at scientists extracting DNA from a corn stalk. Although this particular incidence may not have occurred, the artist chose the specific interaction of power to describe the feelings of her community.
A more broad interpretation of this piece of artwork could not only include the economic takeover of maize cultivation, but the historical ownership of maize. Indigenous farmers are no longer using the crops their ancestors did and people are no longer buying them. It is impending that the way society remembers corn will change. The collective memory will begin to remove the importance of maize from their culture, if foreigners change the farming practices and control the land. There is a power disparity between western scientists and a single local woman over rights to a crop of corn. This shifted when the rifle was pointed at the men, and the rights to the maize, including the monetary and historical value, were being taken back by the woman for her community.
Grafiti itself is a formation of resistance. The types of buildings that grafiti goes on also sends a particular message. According to the Museum of Anthropology, In Oaxaca, many images of human rights abuses were painted on colonial walls. There is a strong initiative to empower the Mesoamerican people by resisting to their oppression. Social change is often depicted through art, not only in the particular images, but how they are created and displayed. There is more meaning in defacing a Spanish building with black and green spray paint, rather than drawing it in a notebook with a pencil.

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