Xanabiletik: Chronicle of Indigenous Migrants from Chiapas

Migrations in the Maya and Zoque villages have always been a part of life, and each era brings its particularities. Over the last 25 years, a kind of diaspora has occurred to various regions of the United States. Being an essential aspect to understand the social, cultural, and economic changes in many indigenous communities, and suffering from being (un)analyzed through a public discourse that lacks nuance, it is praiseworthy that Chiapas artists from the Highlands (of Maya tradition, with important experiences of migration and return) have addressed this topic with subtlety, depth, and in impactful aesthetic experiments.

The six creators offer stories based on their experiences, as strong as testimonies, and powerfully transformed into works of art, particularly through new media: small zine-style books with clever photographs and moving texts, installation, and performance. The artists multifacetedly present themes of crossing – traumatic crossing –, the family left behind and its mixed emotions, the terrible, interesting, and transformative adventure of working, studying, and living in the United States (in these cases). The return home, along with the changes it implies, and the changes in both societies, are also explored.

Martha López López (Chamula) made the journey to give opportunities to her daughter. Andrea (Chamula), the daughter of a migrant, was raised by her grandmother until her mother returned. Mario Trujillo Díaz (Chamula), who achieved some integration into a community in the U.S. Rufino Sántiz (Chamula), who arrived in the U.S. at five and left at 20. Humberto Gómez (San Andrés Larráinzar), who, in addition to seeking work, also experienced it. Genaro Sántiz (Chamula), who spent almost seven years, sometimes with and sometimes without his work instrument: the camera.

This exhibition is the result of the Chiapas Photography Project’s (CPP) long-standing work on the subject: a cultural project under the direction of Carlota Duarte, which accompanies Mujeres Indígenas Fotógrafas (MIF) in social photographic art. MIF includes Martha López, Juana López, and Guadalupe Girón. With the support of Melissa Birkhofer, they mounted a previous version of this exhibition in the U.S., incorporating the returned migrants Rufino Sántiz and Mario Trujillo. Now, for the first time at MUY, the valuable inclusion of the artists Genaro Sántiz and Humberto Gómez is featured.

These works traveled to the U.S., and we are pleased to witness their return to Chiapas with you.

Galería MUY

May-June 2019