Installation
Variable (40 x 43 in)
Emergency blanket, arepa dough, duct tape, nails
Living Architecture
Bubbly Creek Performance Art Assembly
Chicago, United States. 2019
The Venezuelans’ favorite dish, the arepa, is made of a mix of corn flour, salt and water. This popular meal, similar to tortillas, became a national cultural symbol for the people of the mentioned South American country. In recent times, a massive exodus of Venezuelans took place, with more of 10% of the population fleeing their country due to the Chavista dictatorship and humanitarian crisis. This originated the worst refugee crisis in the hemisphere’s history. In Venezuelan Relief, an emergency blanket; such as the ones used by refugees, makes the most of its impermeability and resistance to contain the arepa dough, seeking to embody the current tragedy of the Venezuelan diaspora. The fragility of the work evokes the precariousness of the refugees’ conditions.