February 6, 2019 - February 6, 2019
They Have Given Us The Land
Oswaldo Ruiz
February 6, 2019 - February 6, 2019
PRESS RELEASE
They Have Given Us The Land
Oswaldo Ruiz*
In the fields of Mexico the traditional “milpa”, a multicrop of corn and other vegetables, is now being substituted for monocrops of GMO, creating a strong tension. This series is based in Ejido San Isidro, in Jalisco, a place that inspired Juan Rulfo to write The Burning Plain. It depicts the space in conflict between the farmers of the zone, in a fight against illegal occupation of their lands by transnational enterprises, agro-industries that little by little are suffocating the fields and the laborers.
This brutal encounter has created restricted hipertecnified lands: areas of crops spread with agrochemicals so toxic they burn the human skin when touched, but nonetheless are used for cultivating food. In this place diverse forces are faced, a moment of change between a traditional practice and the biotechnological production which consequences appear to be irreversible.
This series was awarded the acquisition price in the XVIII Photography Biennial at Centro de la Imagen in December 2018.
*Member of the National System of Art Creators, FONCA.
