Intervened bunkbed and matress, Venezuelan corn flour wrappings donated by Venezuelan immigrants, emergency blankets, wood.
79.3 x 92.8 x 40.8 in
201.4 x 235.74 x 103.6 cm
St. Louis, United States.
2020
In the last 4 years, over 7 million Venezuelans have fled our country trying to save themselves from economic demise and political oppression. This number represents nearly 20% of Venezuela’s total population. Half a million of these Venezuelans have come to the United States. As a Venezuelan artist, I seek to appeal to the Venezuelan immigrant community's sense of identity, and to raise awareness about the crisis on the Venezuelan human displacement on the non-Venezuelan audiences.
Monumento a la Diáspora Venezolana consists of a bunk bed cut in half attached to a wall. One side of this wall is covered by emergency blankets, while the other is covered with Venezuelan corn flour packages collected from the local Venezuelan community in Missouri, drawing the silhouette of the bunk bed. This sculpture was made in collaboration with the Association of Venezuelans in Missouri, an organization that seeks to support the Venezuelan diaspora in Missouri, sharing Venezuelan culture, and funding scholarships for Hispanic students in the state. Together, we invited the Venezuelan community to donate the empty packages of the most distinctive corn flour brand. The community’s contribution to the making of the piece makes it a symbol of solidarity among Venezuelans wherever we go.
This project was possible thanks to the Graduate Production Grant and the CityStudioSTL Award, conferred by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.