Zona MACO

Cuidad de México, México - Feb. 7/11, 2024

Altars and Offerings: a "contemporary milpa”
RoFa Projects, will present in Zona Maco a proposal committed to ecofeminism, and its transversal, inter-sectoral character and care for the environment and its community.

Altars and Offerings: a "contemporary milpa" uses art strategies to talk about ecofeminism and biodiversity, highlighting the value of food as a source of life. This contemporary milpa honors life and good nutrition. The milpa, a traditional agricultural system in Mesoamerica, which involves the planting of various crops on the same plot, is a powerful symbol of the relationship between nature and humanity.

The metaphor of the seeds as the germ of the future and their connection with the food that sustains our lives is poetic and profound. The choice to present this concept in the form of an altar adds a ritual element of offering, in this case to the goddess Coatlicue.

Coatlicue (snake skirt) was the Aztec goddess in charge of taking care of the Milpa and is the mother goddess of the earth, the mother of the sun and the moon. It is the female version of Ometeotl, god of everything. Coatlicue was also the patron saint of childbirth, fertility, and was associated with war, government, and agriculture. An empowered woman in Mesoamerica.

In this Milpa, Rosalia Banet, dedicated for years of her career to food, the body and the territory, creates a banquet. A great and festive banquet of legumes, corn, grains and seeds as the germ of what is to come. A symbol of what the future can become. Seeds that grow and germinate and show with them a path of hope among so much current chaos and apocalyptic visions.

The piece will consist of a structure like an altar, where the different cakes, seeds, legumes, cakes and other dishes will be deposited, in the form of a great banquet, which will turn the food into jewels of great value. It is a creative approach that highlights the importance of food in a visually striking way to provoke reflections on how we value and appreciate food and the notion of community in our contemporary society.

Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognized the Mayan milpa as Agricultural Heritage of Humanity. That is why there is nothing better than inviting Talavera Poblana to this feast of life, whose process has in turn been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (UNESCO) since 2019, and Uriarte as the oldest artisanal workshop in Mexico.

12 women artists will participate in this invitation, each one with an intervened plate to sit down to the feast! The inclusion of these elements of contemporary feminism and the intervention of women artists on plates to serve the banquet adds additional layers of information and meaning.

12 Empowered women before the goddess exploring the importance of an integrated society, working in community in personal care and our society. A fascinating and powerful combination of cultural, ecological, spiritual and feminist elements, in conjunction with the language of contemporary art.

Gabriela Rosso