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1 / 2 Dalla mostra Mariage en Enfer di Giada Connestari. © Giada Connestari
Mariage en Enfer
Mariage en Enfer (Marriage in Hell) by Giada Connestari is a work that is immersed in the everyday life of the Chaco, the South American region that stretches between the rivers Paraguay and Paraná and the Andean plateau in the territories of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. This is a particularly large area that suffers the effects of human colonisation, which is literally destroying the natural ecosystem characteristics. Until the thirties of the twentieth century, the Chaco was in fact an unspoilt region, rich in forests. However, in those years, a group of Mennonites arrive in this area and begin the colonisation of the territory and the breaking of those natural balances that allowed the local population to sustain itself without altering the ecosystem.
From the exhibition Mariage en Enfer by Giada Connestari. © Giada Connestari.
The outbreak of the so-called War of the Chaco between 1932 and 1935, which sees Bolivia and Paraguay confronting each other, brings destruction in those lands. The two states were disputing, on the one hand, the control of a territory wrongly considered oil-rich, on the other, the control of the Paraguay River, which would have guaranteed an outlet to the sea for Bolivia. What is more, a smallpox epidemic, which broke out between the troops, ends up exterminating the indigenous population. At the end of the conflict, the Mennonite community has settled permanently and in the years thereafter begin to arrive the missionaries that aim both to convert the surviving indigenous people and to take them to live outside the forests. In the space of twenty years, despite the resistance of the local population, the majority of the natives are baptised and adopt the Western lifestyle.
From the exhibition Mariage en Enfer by Giada Connestari. The photo was taken by Alberto Vojtěch Frič. © Alberto Vojtěch Frič´s Family Collection.
In the last decade, the lands of the Chaco have been converted to the breeding of livestock to satisfy the growing demand for meat. To create ever-larger farms has not hesitated to proceed with criminal deforestation that has resulted in the disruption of the ecosystem and the removal of indigenous people, who were then forced into reserves. Within the latter the oral transmission of traditional culture has dispersed, while young people are increasingly drawn to the white man's customs and tend to move to the cities leaving their homeland.
During the visit to the exhibition Mariage en Enfer by Giada Connestari. © Stefania Biamonti/FPmag.
The work by Giada Connestari exhibited within the Voies Off 2916 aims to document the current situation of the Chaco people, telling of a world hanging in the balance between an always fainter recollection of those traditions that have governed for centuries the lives of these people, in balance with nature, and the adherence to the Western way of life that is instead destroying the ecosystem of the place. To make things clear the author, in agreement with the gallerists, decided to support her work with a series of historical photographs dating back to the period when the first settlers reached the Chaco.
During the visit to the exhibition Mariage en Enfer by Giada Connestari. © Stefania Biamonti/FPmag.The fragments of life that emerge from these images of the past are able to convey the idea of the transformation undergone by the people who live in these lands perfectly. The photographs in fact provide a benchmark for assessing the contemporary images that otherwise would risk almost to appear normal to us, because in many cases they are not too far from our cultural stereotypes. An operation that seen in Arles deserves praise for the commitment not only as a documentary but is also educational, if one allows the term, against a very grave situation and virtually unknown outside of Latin America. [ Sandro Iovine ]
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MARIAGE EN ENFER
by Giada Connestari
Chez Aarthur e Janine, 56 rue du 4 septembre - Arles (France)
4 – 10 July 2016
opening time: daily, 11 am - 9 pm
admission fee: free
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[ INTERNAL RESOURCES ]
◉ [ FPtag ] Voies Off 2016: the point of view of the Editorial staff
[ EXTERNAL RESOURCES ]
◎
Voies Off
◎ Giada Connestari
published on 2016-07-05 in NEWS / EXHIBITIONS
VOIESOFF VOIESOFF2016 GiadaConnestarimore in EXHIBITIONS
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