“From a very literal point of view, the harbors and the ports and the railroads of the country – the economy, especially in the South – could not conceivably be what they are if it had not been (and this is still so) for cheap labor. I am speaking very seriously, and this is not […]
The Republic of Biafra existed in eastern Nigeria from May 30, 1967, to January 1970. The name was taken from the Bight of Biafra, the Atlantic bay in southern Nigeria. The secession of the Biafra region, due to the massacre of its people who lived in the northern part of the country, led to the […]
Often the camera is not present in particularly deep, impressive moments. This was the case on a day in September 1967, during the Prague Spring, when I had the opportunity to visit Jiří Kolář in his studio. It was very inspiring for me to see his work in person even though the subliminally remaining impressions […]
October 18, 1970: Pasolini is in Sana’a. It is his last day of shooting of The Decameron (1971). With leftover film, he composes a cinematic call to UNESCO advocating preservation of Sana’a’s historical center “in the name of the scandalous, revolutionary force of the past.” In 1986, Pasolini’s call will be heard: Sana’a old city […]
According to a 2001 House of Representatives committee report, the car above (sic) was “wrecked and abandoned by undocumented aliens.” The report focuses on immigration’s impacts on the environment and infrastructure but does not account for the effects of the drug trade. On June 18, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs.” This […]
The birth of my first child changed y life and concerns as a woman, and so as an artist. I sought alternative readings of art history to bring this cognizance into my work. The personal and the intimate remained touchstones for me even when I sought wider contexts and structures. The desires of the imagination […]
Criticized for the painting Tree Planting by the Plenum of the Albanian Union of Writers and Artists (July 25, 1973), I had to become an enterprising worker for an indefinite period of rehabilitation. As a consequence, I was not allowed to take part in art activities for nearly a decade.
I painted this work [La muerte de Allende – The death of Allende] the night of the military coup in Chile. When the news arrived, I saw in my mind’s eye a drop of blood falling into the sea. This image anticipated the fate of the desaparecidos, people whom the military kidnapped and tortured before […]
Day of my reentry, from a coupled wombman of my choosing (col.) or chosen (AFr.). Exact time and necessary racial classification unknown.
Some Afrikaners Photographed (1975) [by David Goldblatt] is pure visual music. The book’s insightful, nonjudgmental images etched into my retina, narrating a people that were part of the continent and yet insisted on apartheid. The first photo says it all: a wall built by two slaves two hundred years ago, a performative sculpture of stones, […]