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From California to Chile, from Wallmapu to Palestine
Embracing Dr Martin Luther King Junior’s lucid words “an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere”, From California to Chile, from Wallmapu to Palestine is a collective exhibit that hopes to make visible the struggle for justice in different corners of the world and how they are connected to the devastating effects of Neoliberalism and the deep inequality it has created worldwide. This exhibit, which opened in mid-February at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley California displays how, if not justice, hope has been taken in the own hands of millions of people who have come to the streets of several countries to remind oppressive states that they will not settle for anything but justice. When we see the works from the occupied territories of Palestine, the fight for self-determination in Mapuche territories in both sides of the Andes, independence in Catalunya, and the rebellious awakenings of Colombia, Ecuador and Chile, we see lots in common, but especially; police brutality and resistance. The bravery and commitment of the photographers of this show proves particularly impressive because some of them have literally risked their lives to take their photographs. The show also counts on artwork that honors the uprisings against the coup in Bolivia, which tell us of the ferocious consequences of intervention and one piece from the Zapatista communities, that gives us the hope of building a space of autonomy, donde el pueblo mande, or where people govern!
The original show displayed the work in different medias of artists Claudia Curiqueo, Fernanda Gallardo, Haitham Khatib, Pancho Peskador, Marc Hors, Yulieth Andrea Rincón López, Cristian Muñoz, Indira Urrutia, Marcelo Garay, Pablo Ruiz Arroyo, Luis Hidalgo, Andres Gallegos, Miguel Pérez Guillén and a collective piece from Community members from North California. The show has been closed since mid-March due to the statewide restrictions for the Cov-19 but will be reopened as soon as activities are resumed.
We will share the works of three photographers which demonstrate that daily acts of resistance that are happening every day in different corners of the world.
Ximena Soza (Curator)
Resistance in Santiago 1, Santiago, Chile by Marcelo Garay
Resistance in Santiago 2, Santiago, Chile by Marcelo Garay
Resistance in Santiago 3, Santiago, Chile by Marcelo Garay
Marcelo Garay is a journalist, social communicator and photographer, 49 years old. Born in a working-class neighborhood in the southern part of Santiago, he has been engaged in his profession for more than two decades. Starting with the Chilean popular revolt, he joined the Latin American independent photojournalism group Ruta-35 (www.route-35.com), where he began publishing chronicles and photographs of the mobilization days in Chile. In the middle of his work, during a riot on November 18th, a police officer shot him twice and caused injuries to his legs and hands, due to the impact of 9 bullets, six of which he still has embedded in his body.
Palestina 1, Palestine, by Haitham Khatib
Viva Palestina 2, Palestine, by Haitham Khatib
Haitham Khatib: Born and raised in the agricultural village of Bil’in, he is a self-taught freelance Palestinian photographer and documentary film-maker, in Palestine’s West Bank. His life has been tragically affected by the illegal Israeli occupation. In the First Intifada, at age 15 he was sent to Israeli jail for two years. He decided to use photography as a tool or a weapon to protect his family and villagers from the harassment by the Israeli Occupation forces. For 11 years he has documented his village’s organized weekly Friday demonstrations, which are show of unity and solidarity and a peaceful means of resistance. He re-affirms the strength, with which Palestinians fight for their dignity and freedom.
Wechrafken by Claudia Curaqueo
Pu lof en resistencia by Claudia Curaqueo
Claudia Curaqueo is a photographer, Visual Arts Teacher, documentary filmmaker and member of the Mapuche Inchiñ Communication Department in Kurru Leufu (Rio Negro) Puelmapu. The work in the collective reflects the importance of the active role that they develop as producers of content that relates to their own identity, with a proposal of clear revitalization of the Mapuche culture. In their work, they highlight the great ancestral Mapuche framework centered on good living, which has provided a counter model against the extractivist and capitalist model, documenting with a critical eye the constant demonstrations organized as a response against the oppressive state.
Ximena Soza is a Chilean born artist, poet and educator. Formally she earned her BA in Education in Chile and her Masters and PhD in the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. As an artist, Ximena has participated in several collective and individual exhibits, showing her work in different medias in galleries, museums and streets. Her traveling exhibit “Bajo las Suelas/ Underneath the Soles” has been presented in 12 cities in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Spain and Italy. As a writer and performer, Ximena has been awarded with three international literary prizes for her fiction,and has been included in Latin American short stories anthologies in Argentina and the US. She has performed her poetry widely and a few monologues. She been part of Teatro Maquis a Theater of the Oppressed troupe and now she is part of the Collective Arte Precario dedicated to different forms of art related to Social Justice. As an educator, Ximena used her artistic skills to work with women and children at mental health centers and schools, She also worked with Williche communities in Chiloe, Chile, developing an inter-cultural curriculum. She is currently developing didactic material to promote the learning of several Latin American indigenous languages and several children books on Day of the Dead and issues of social justice.
