Maiz

MAIZ is a visual investigation of the different breeds of native Mexican corn and their guardians. The project invites us to think of native corn not only as a crop but as a living archive of cultural memory and ancestral ecological wisdom.

In the face of the dominant narratives of possible futures that move between green capitalism and climate catastrophe, the project is interested in the diverse forms of resistance and adaptability that both plants and the communities that guard them have achieved.  Exploring the intersection between new technologies and documentary photography, the project reflects on the value of biodiversity: who and what is lost when a species and its way of shaping a territory is extinguished?

 In Mexico, there are 64 different breeds of native corn, each with unique traits and characteristics. These represent not only food security but also a genetic library formed by millennia of selective breeding that embodies the traditional knowledge systems and socio-cultural values of the communities that inhabit them.  The term native is a distinction from other types of corn, such as hybrids or transgenic.  The rich diversity of this native plant has been adapted and maintained thanks to the efforts and practices of ecologists, farmers and indigenous communities. Faced with a reality conditioned by climate collapse and the appropriation of territories for old and new forms of extractivism, these plants and their guardian communities are a testimony of how living species can cooperate and withstand future challenges.  

 The investigation travels through different states of the Mexican territory searching for different varieties of corn to develop a complete collection of 3D models by using photogrammetry techniques which can be accessed here.  These models become “digital fossils” that propose a way of thinking, being and relating to the territories.  The photographic essay documents through photography and 360° videos the search and encounters with indigenous communities, farmers, mediators and agronomists whose collaboration allows the creation of this symbolic archive. A preview of these videos can be accessed here. This collection of images weaves a web of questions about rural-urban dichotomies, biocultural rights and the concept of sustainability, often appropriated by the discourses of ecomodernism or greenwashing.  

Maiz explores how farmers seek strategies to adapt to climate change and how their ancestral knowledge is compromised by the delay of rains, unusual heat, sudden hail storms or excessive winds.   In view of this, the planting of corn, considered a staple food, remains uncertain. The cultivation of corn becomes a scenario to speak about the effect of climate change, and the different threats to food sovereignty while highlighting the value of biodiversity, and the cultural and economic significance of this plant and their guardians.