ABSTRACT
This chapter is an analysis of the curatorial work for En tierra estéril convertida (Turned into Sterile Land), presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Puerto Rico between 2021 and 2022. The show established a dialogue between artwork created by artists from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean that builds a double metaphor between the gendered body as invaded land and the space attacked by patriarchy. In the essay, the author demonstrates how the exhibition breaks with colonial knowledge and the implementation of modern development in the Americas. The text starts by arguing that the research and production process was informed by the curator's own involvement in feminist activism and anti-imperialist struggles in Puerto Rico. Then, it proceeds to highlight and analyze five artworks in the exhibition that either present its creator's own experiences or function as an outlet to project survivor's voices. The show included works by Marina Barsy-Janer, María Adela Díaz, Regina José Galindo, Joscelyn Gardner, Teresa Margolles, Ana Mendieta and Belkis Ramírez, but the author reflects on the contributions by Ana María García, Las Nietas de Nonó, Sandra Monterroso, Teresa Hernández and Lorena Wolffer, which question the appropriation of knowledge and ethnographic extraction.
