Stretch Marks
The body constitutes a central expressive arena for Regina Jóse Galindo,
as it provides the grounds for conflicts to emerge while never losing
inspiration for its own existence. Galindo understands the body in
terms of a politically inscribed female body, which reflects upon
violence-soaked reality in relation to women issues, and paints
powerful narrative images of the suffering, poverty, pain, horror, and
fragility of an individual in a metaphoric as well as semiotic sense.
These themes, tackled by Galindo in a manner embodying extreme courage,
modest humbleness, and breath taking seriousness and discipline,
directly refer to the existing power relations in her native country of
Guatemala. Despite subjecting herself to physical and psychological
danger beyond imagination, Galindo’s work has no ambition to become a
spectacle or to shock the audience. Her work is first and foremost a
testimony to intense and typically Guatemalan relations, encompassing
the entire present period, on the one hand, while shedding light on the
brutal nature of life, on the other. Galindo has created a completely
new performance entitled Stretch Marks exclusively for City of Women, taking one step further her recurrent theme of violent reality and the perception thereof. Mara Vujić
Organization: City of Women; In collaboration with: SCCA – Ljubljana, Centre for Contemporary Arts.
