Sandra Monterroso Guatemalan, b. 1974
Ed. 3/6 + 2 P/A.
https://vimeo.com/256985180
A woman sits by herself in a dark room entranced by the repetitive and monotonous process of making tortillas. Rather than simply making the traditional dish for others to consume, the process is dragged out into being a ritual whereby the preparation of food becomes a token of her affection and a contemporary representation of consecrated tradition. Although she addresses the spectator at times, the actual insularity of her actions is underlined by her use of the Mayan dialect Q’eqchi’ in bursts that sound like incantations. The interplay between languages, Spanish and English in the subtitles and spoken Q’eqchi’, becomes a poetic device that signals the intercultural nature of present-day Guatemala, a constant push and pull between indigenous and colonial cultures.
In Lix cua rahro. Tus tortillas mi amor, Sandra Monterroso uses the act of making tortillas as a stand-in for a number of traditions and Mayan practices that have today come to be part of everyday life. In the case of this performance, tradition is played against a feminist consciousness, resulting in a closer look into the moment where the need to be liberated and the desire to maintain tradition intersect. Through the act of chewing the maize, spitting it back out, and then mixing the corn flour in preparation for making the tortillas while also reciting proverbs, the artist simultaneously performs a sacrificial labour of love by literally putting her body into her work and an act of rebellion whereby she spits on the idea of domesticity. Subsequently, the hearts that she mindlessly stamps on each tortilla, and outlines in her blood, are not only symbols of love but also of domestic alienation and self-negation, embodiments of the guilt of wanting to be free while also wanting to be tied to a sense of tradition.
Exhibitions
2022
Denver Art Museum, USA. "ReVisión: Art in the Americas".
2020
Galerie im Körnerpark Berlin, Germany. “This Might be a Place for hummingbirds”. Curaduría / Curated by: Cagla ilk and Antje Weitzel.
2020
The White Box, Munich. “This Might be a Place for hummingbirds”. Curaduría / Curated by: Cagla ilk and Antje Weitzel.
2019
“Ingesta”. Teorética, Costa Rica. Evento: “Ingesta”. Teorética, Costa Rica. Curaduría / Curated by: Adan Vallecido
2019
Fotoseptiembre”. MAC Panamá País: Panamá, Ultra Contaminados. Curaduría / Curated by: Andres Soto.
2015
Soho in Ottakrin. Sandleiten Kino. Austria, Proyección en 9.000km Häppchen. Curado: Hansel Soto
2015
Soho in Ottakrin. Sandleiten Kino. Austria, Proyección Was hat gemüse mit migration zu tun? Curado: Hansel Soto
2014
Los Mataderos, auditorio, FranciaEvento: Proyección Borderland/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza Curado: Alyosha Imhoff y Kantuta Quirós
2010
Richard White Auditorium, Duke University, Estados Unidos, Durham NC, Images of Decolonization: Rebel Shadows. Curado: Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet
Guayaqui, Cuenca y Manta. Ciclo de Video Arte Visionarios. Curado: Arlindo Machado, Elías Levín, Jorge La Ferla, Marta Vélez, Roberto Moreira S. Cruz
2009
Museo Reina Sofía. Ciclo de Video Arte Visionarios. Curado: Arlindo Machado, Elías Levín, Jorge La Ferla, Marta Vélez, Roberto Moreira S. Cruz
2009
Centre Pompidou, Art-action feministe . Panorama de la vidéoperformance féministe contemporaine en Amérique latine. Curado: Alyosha Imhoff y Kantuta Quirós
2008
Maison Populaire, Montreuil, ¡America Latina: Arte Acción!
2008
Auditorio de la Alianza Francesa, Buenos Aires. Ciclo de Video Arte Visionarios. Curado: Arlindo Machado, Elías Levín, Jorge La Ferla, Marta Vélez, Roberto Moreira S. Cruz
2006
MARTE Museo de Arte de El Salvador. V Bienal de Artes Visuales del Istmo Centroamericano. Curado: Comité curatorial Bienal de Artes Visuales
2005
España. Videografías Invisibles. Jorge Villacorta, José Carlos Mariátegui
2004
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo (MADC). 3er Concurso Centroamericano de Creación. Inquieta Imagen. Curado: Andrea di Castro, Gilles Charallambos, José-Carlos Mariátegui
Literature
http://www.paris-art.com/evenement-culturel/art-action-feministe/diaz-maria-adela-jose-galindo-regina/2624.html#haut
https://sites.google.com/site/22ndfilmfestivalnc/2010-calendar
www.sohoinottakring.at/2015/03/werkzeuggespraech-1-was-hat-gemuese
http://www.cinelatino.com.fr/film/tus-tortillas-mi-amor-lix-cua-rahro
http://www.iniva.org/events/2009/performing_localities_may_5
http://artdaily.com/news/30192/Performing-Localities--Recent-Guatemalan-Performance-Art-on-Video-at-Iniva-at-Rivington-Place#.Vagh9RPtmkp
Publications
Pérez-Ratton, Virginia (November 14, 2013). Del estrecho dudoso a un Caribe invisible. Spain: Publicacions Universitat de Valencia. ISBN 8437090806.
Maura, Reilly; Linda, Nochlin (March 1, 2007). Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art (1st Ed. ed.). Brooklyn: Merrell Publishers. p. 130. ISBN 1858943906.
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