Doris Salcedo makes artwork from testimonies of victims of war, violence and marginalization. Her Istanbul Biennial piece is a topography of war, that depicted war as embedded in everyday life. In a place where war and marginalization lasts many years, the point where violence ends and everyday life begins is uncertain. I was first attracted to Doris Salcedo's artwork by the way that the images made me feel a certain sense of loss and contained chaos. Last week I did a small research project on her artwork and I realized that I am so intrigued by it because where I come from violence and marginalization are part of everyday life, so much so that it becomes normalized.
Mexico, as some of you may have already seen in the media, is in a state of extreme violence. Michoacan in particular has been a center for drug cartel wars and government corruption for many, many years now. My family there is always in a constant state of uncertainty.
Here is a documentary film that shows a small part of the story of how communities in Michoacan (and throughout Mexico) have been rising up to the violence and corruption.
The Huffington Post published an article that talks about the self-defense groups in Michoacan.
"We cannot yet speak about a new Mexican Revolution, but we can affirm with some certainty that the current uprising in Michoacán is transforming the way the Mexican state relates to its people. We can also look back at the 1910 Revolution and realize that what José Vasconcelos called El México de afuera (The Outside Mexico) has played an important role in Mexico's political transformations, and that this exiled community has been itself transformed by Mexico's political and economic turmoils."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/luis-a-marentes/returning-migrants-and-th_b_4713432.html
