“Art, Women, and Action: Art that moves”
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Femicide and Feminicide spread throughout the world like an epidemic. Women and feminine people are being tortured, mutilated, raped and killed just for being either a woman or feminine (Ciudad Juarez, Mex; Guatemala; El Salvador; Honduras; Dominican Republic; Haiti and others). The School of the Americas (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation), just to mention one, is responsible for the wars and crimes that consume Guatemala.
Timoi, a Guatemalan multi-media artist, has found it within herself to join the fight and take a stance for women and femininity through her graffiti art in Guatemala. She says, “my voice is in my hands and so I paint visual representations of what I hold dear and defend. I believe times are crucial and it is only through educating each other and our young that we can make a difference. Art happens to be and eye opener and a soul healer.” Timoi aspires to travel to Guatemala and “offer free murals of beauty and enlightenment to [her] Guatemalan people and Latin American victims of corporate greed and impunity. ” For now, she states that “we have been made to believe that living day to day is the way to live; while, they are planning centuries, we are caught up in the petty things that keep us from seeing the bigger picture. For me, whether I see it in my lifetime or not, it is vital that we are part of the solution rather than part of or accomplice in these crimes. Let’s now take into consideration our existence and how we can voice our concerns and empower through art.”
Today Timoi is serving as the President of MIA (Mujeres Iniciando en las Americas), which is a non-profit organization that builds bridges of understanding and using a restorative justice framework in Guatemala and the United States to eradicate violence against women.
“The goal of my work is to impact the viewer; make them think about the paradox of delicacy, and strength of women and the feminine spirit. By sharing my work with the world I hope to bring color and inspiration for people globally, and change the situation in Guatemala through MIA, Action and Art. For me the personal and political facets drive my art and creative processes. My drive is in what I will leave here behind for generations to come.
Knowing about Timoi’s work, Rare Diamonds, a student-led organization at Pomona College welcomed her for the “Art, Women, and Action: Art that moves” graffiti workshop on Saturday, April 24th, 2010. Rare Diamonds is a student-led collective of self-identified women of color on Pomona College’s campus that promotes unity, creates dialogue, and critical consciousness through artistic expressions and community work. They provide a safe place for all self-identified Women of Color and an outlet for the pressures they may feel from being marginalized in the surrounding communities. The group seeks to foster leadership and empowerment through internal healing and external building and hope to embody a “sisterhood for and by the sisters from every ‘hood.’”
The group felt that there was a lack of dialogue around this topic as well as how they could learn more about how a particular artistic medium (i.e. graffiti) could be used for empowerment and healing in their own lives as women of color on a predominantly white campus/society. So, Timoi led the workshop on Walker Beach on Pomona College’s campus. She began with a short biography of herself and her work , then gave a brief history of the crime and violence against women and femininity in Guatemala and her role as a political artist; specifically the female and feminine victims there. She, along with her assistant gave a step-by-step spray-painting class before any actual painting began.
In the group discussion questions were raised about womanhood and the ways in which women can harness power. Questions like “what does a real, strong, woman look like and how can we challenge the norm of that image?” Personally, this dialogue created a space for me to reflect on the issues I face as a first generation, Chicana womyn of color and learning how to come to terms with all those identities in the midst of all the pressures placed upon me to “assimilate” into the white, well mannered, scholarly student that is the current face of the Claremont Colleges. This dialogue culminated in the creation of a three-panel graffiti mural (see figure below). Today, the product of this powerful dialogue and healing currently hangs in the Honnold-Mudd Library of the Claremont Colleges. This piece was intended to raise awareness about the experiences the students have had as women of color, being marginalized and discriminated against in society. The mural illustrates what they saw as the empowerment of women everywhere and further demonstrates how graffiti can be used as a powerful tool of social justice.
Collaborative mural: Timoi www.timoi.com; Rare Diamonds www.5crd.weebly.com
-Posted by: EV*
Pomona College '13
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