The global surge in demand for avocados has driven drug cartels across Mexico to become heavily involved in the trade. In response, in 2011 a group of women from the community of Cherán (Michoacán state) took a stand against the local cartel and succeeded in establishing a new government based on long-standing Purépecha indigenous principles. For five years, the collective Ritual Inhabitual documented Cherán’s struggle through a blend of documentary and fictional photography, collaborating with local artists to create a polyphonic narrative. Their project, Oro Verde, represents a form of ‘mytho-documentary’ symbolising key events in Cherán’s reclamation of communal autonomy. This exhibition – their first in the UK – is co-curated by Rosi Huaroco and Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo.
Based in Paris, Tito Gonzalez Garcia (France, 1977) and Florencia Grisanti (Chile, 1983) founded the shared artistic practice Ritual Inhabitual in 2013. The collective is composed of artists, curators, publishers working together to develop long-term projects that explore the role of myth within contemporary political struggle, particularly in relation to land, ecology and indigenous rights across Latin America.
Bristol Photo Festival
Until November 17, 2024
Ritual Inhabitual : Oro Verde
Unit 15 Albion Dockside Estate
Hanover Place, Bristol, BS1 6UT
https://bristolphotofestival.org/at-the-edge-of-the-everyday-world-by-rinko-kawauchi-4
