Tierra baldía

The achiote and the management of endemic species are the mediums through which the artist Carlos A. Mora addresses the growing deforestation and loss of Maya bio-cultural heritage. The times of dispossession stretch violently on a global scale, rapidly ravaging nature, peoples, and cultures. In the pursuit of accumulating the greatest amount of capital through the extraction of material resources, the Yucatán Peninsula has undergone significant changes to its tropical forests over the last few decades. Hence, the exhibition Tierra baldía is the result of research and a body of work that begins with the ancient Maya culture and the ecological destruction that shapes its territory.

The artist reads and approaches the landscape of the Yucatán Peninsula from the field of architecture. In his work, this translates into the use of architectural plants from Maya ceremonial centers located in this land. Mora decides to elevate these plants with linen dyed with the seeds of Bixa orellana, known as achiote. In ancient times, achiote played a significant symbolic role in Maya sacrifices and rituals. The artist thus bridges the blood that flowed during these ancestral ceremonies with the current issue of man-made fires. Similarly, the artist weaves the advance of deforestation by using cedar, one of the many tree species affected by real estate speculation, tourism, and agribusiness in the region.

The exhibition extends outdoors with the installation Dispositivo I: Jasminum grandiflorum, a greenhouse structure that protects the jasmine species. The artist proposes a dual function for the device: the windows are arranged following the translation of the plant’s scientific name into binary code, in order to contain and reveal biological information about the plant in the future. But the work also presents a contradiction, in which the act of conserving nature is achieved through its protection. This is similar to the policies of protectionism and preservation of our ecologies.

Together, Tierra baldía not only revives the discussions and contradictions surrounding the devastation and loss of living heritage, but it also proposes ways of acting dedicated to the land itself, its history, materials, and tradition. It is a narrative about a territory between memory and ash.

— Rosela del Bosque, November 2023