February 28
At the base of her spine
Naufus Ramirez-Figeuroa (Vancouver)
Doors @ 7:30pm, Performance @ 8pm
Admission: $3 members/students, $5 general
Artistís Talk: March 1 @ noon

At the Base of Her Spine will be presented as part of Open Space's ongoing PERFORMATIVE series, which showcases the work of local and national performance artists. In this performance, Vancouver-based performance artist, Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa will explore the cultural and social history of the Mongolian Spot, a birthmark sometimes found on the lower backs of children of indigenious descent.

At the Base of Her Spine will look at constructs of personal and national identity. In contemporary Guatemalan political speeches, the Mongolian Spot has been used as a marker unifying the population. However, prior to the rise of indigenous pride movements in Guatemala and before the Peace Accords, the Mongolian Spot had been seen as an undesirable trait, bearing stigma and causing apartheid for those who bore it. For Ramirez-Figueroa, the Mongolian Spot is a marker of difference within his own family, as his sister was born with this spot but he was not. Within this performance, he attempts to unify himself within the racial narrative of his family by marking himself with this spot. In this way, Ramirez-Figueroa appropriates romanticized and essentialist notions of racial purity and authenticity.

Ramirez-Figueroa's past works have explored issues of colonialism, cultural identity and power dynamics through the politics of food production and consumption. He has examined the importation and exportation of food, and how these methods relate to the immigration process and exploitation resulting from globalization. Ramirez-Figueroa has an interest in magical ritual practices, specifically from Mayan and Afro-Latin American cultures, and integrates these within his life and art. In addition, his work is almost always concerned with the psychology and politics of race and gender, but is performed with amazing playfulness and innocence.

Ramirez Figueroa was born in Guatemala and emigrated to Canada at the age of seven. The imagery in his work finds its origins in his childhood. Ramirez Figueroa's early life absorbed experiences of a childhood lived during the state terrorism of the early 80s. Now an artist in his twenties, he reintegrates these experiences and exports them in his art.