Nov. 27, 2010 - Jan. 22, 2011
Performing the Border, 1999, video, colour, 42:00 min
In Performing the Border, Ursula Biemann studies the harmful impact of globalization on the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez. Through personal interviews with local women and activists, she documents the destructive impact of multinational corporations on the town.
American companies that produce electronic and digital equipment assemble their products in local factories, which the Mexicans call maquiladoras. The maquiladoras are mass-production plants in which the workers are poorly paid. Nevertheless, the prospect of work, and the hope of illegally crossing the border into the US, attract migrant populations from other regions of the country. As a result, traditional family structures are destabilized and the border area is transformed into a lawless, transitory terrain.
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Ciudad Juarez is an unruly town that lacks a basic infrastructure; it is also the site of rampant violence, which is mostly directed against women. Women try to make ends meet by working in the factories, but often turn to prostitution to increase their income. They quit school at a young age, and do not even acquire a basic education. As a result, they enter a vicious circle of ignorance, violence and dependence.
Biemann’s video essay portrays the highly sexualized character of this border region. In this context, the crimes committed against women metaphorically echo the pounding rhythm of the machines at the maquiladoras. Women’s bodies become a battlefield zone for the two bordering nations, Mexico and the U.S., and they pay the price for the clash between the contradicting interests of these two players.
G. L.
Ursula Biemann -born in Switzerland, 1955
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