THAT WHICH GIVES LIFE, KILLS | Elisa Montesinos What do the landscapes of the Region of Antofagasta have in common with those of Minas Gerais? The inhabitants of both mining regions (one of copper, the other iron) live daily with the pollution and other environmental impacts, as the regions turn into zones of sacrifice. Francisca Caporali, director of the Jardim Canadá Art and Technology Center, in Belo Horizonte, visited SACO in 2019 and the idea came about to start a residency exchange program between the two areas. Artists Simone Cortezão (Brazil) and Jahir Jorquera (Chile) had both explored the theme of mining in their respective works. Jorquera, originating from Maria Elena, and whose father works in mining, traveled to Minas Gerais at the start of 2020. The pandemic forced him to return earlier than had been planned. In spite of this, he was able to connect his earlier project Lunar de pampa, in which he establishes a link between extractivism and patriarchy, with his residency, merged together with elements from his own biography. Simone Cortezão came to Antofagasta a short time earlier. Travelling through the desert, she was able to make connections between the environmental tragedies that had occurred in the region with those she had witnessed in her own country, linking them to the breakdown of the exploitative method of mining in Chile, which, in addition to being the region’s main source of jobs and wealth, is slowly killing its inhabitants.
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