Idea Transcript
I’m not Mexican:
“An Exploration of Venezuela Identity” Ligia Carvallo Morales August 2005
Summary of Project in Lieu of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts
acknowledgements I have learned much about design culture and communication design from working with Maria Rogal and for this I would like to thank her. Her work and research has inspired me tremendously to the very foundation of my thesis. She introduced me to ethnography and enlightened me on how to combine this with design – which was fundamentally important to this project development and realization. Maria is very passionate in everything she does. She is generous and always willing to lend a helping hand as a mentor. Her qualities have helped me tremendously with my research and this project. (Maria: Que Dios te bendiga forever!) I thank Melanie Davenport for her innumerable reading suggestions and thoughts on culture and post-colonialism and for her continuous support of my research. I would also like to thank Brian Slawson for his interest and insightful questions about my culture, which led me to further investigate these issues. Finally, I thank my compañero, Luis, for his patience and support during the last years of my studies. Gracias mi amor. Also to all those who were involved in the realization of this project, I would like to extend my gratitude for their great help and influence on the completion of this project: to Germary, Neptaly, Vanessa, and Juan Carlos for sharing their thoughts about our culture and country; to Miguel for his acoustic contributions to this project; and to Margarita, Chocho, Mariger, Alejandro, Cameron, Mike, Dylan, Joana and Albita for their help and support. I dedicate this project to my mother, Ligia Morales, for reminding me of our culture and customs. Even though she was not here with me, her faith in me is always present in my heart and mind.
table of contents \
1. Problem Statement
1
2. Introduction a brief history of venezuela project background
3. Project Influences
2 3 5
Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan Hollis Frampton Trinh T. Minh-ha Hanna Hoch Maria Rogal Ruth Behar Phillip Rodriguez
4. Process + Methodology project methodology methodology practice visual representation
8 9 13
5. Analysis + Conclusions
17
6. Futher Directions
18
7. Terminology
19
8. Bibliography
20
9. Appendix
21
Summary of Project in Lieu of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts
an exploration of venezuelan identity by Ligia Carvallo Morales May 2005
Chair: Maria Rogal Committee Member: Melanie Davenport Major Department: Art and Art History
Abstract
I have lived in the United States for almost eight years and many times I have been mistaken for Mexican, presumably because of the color of my skin and the fact that I speak Spanish. This case of mistaken identity is not exclusively applied to Venezuelans like me, rather it has happened to many Latin Americans. It seems that the entire spectrum of Latin American peoples, and culture, has been enfolded into the singular cultural identity of “the Mexican.” While I do not desire to stereotype in reverse, I perceive that many people understand things (people, places, food, culture, music, etc.) as Latin but they seem to negate the idiosyncrasies of this vast and diverse range that consists of many people, countries, and cultures. Is everything south of Texas the same?
Often it is only when people leave their homelands do they feel a sense of national or cultural identity and belonging. It is the contrast of being the “other,” or outside of a dominant culture that foregrounds difference on the one hand, and prompts one to search for sameness or what is absent on the other. How do Venezuelans living in the United States and Venezuela define and construct “Venezuelanness?” In this project I explore and document observations on identity, everyday life, and consider what it means to be Venezuelan today. In addition, I explore the integration of design and ethnography to engage and inform the audience. The result of this creative project may be found online at www.ligiacarvallo.com/thesis.
Click to view the HTML presentation of this project
problem statement I have lived in the United States for almost eight years. Many times I have been mistaken for Mexican – presumably because of the color of my skin and the fact that I speak Spanish. This case of mistaken identity is not exclusively applied to Venezuelans like me, but happens to many Latin Americans I know. It seems that the entire spectrum of Latin American peoples, and cultures, is enfolded into the singular cultural identity of “Mexican.” While I do not desire to stereotype in reverse, I perceive that many people in the US understand things (people, places, food, culture, music, etc.) as Latin but are not informed as to the idiosyncrasies of the diversity of Latin America – one that consists of many people, countries, and cultures. Is everything south of Texas the same? As a Venezuelan, I don’t have the same culture as a Mexican, Colombian, or Argentine. This stereotyping prompted me to question the signifying practices of my culture and how it is different from and similar to others. After living in the US for so long, am I still Venezuelan? What does it mean to be a Latino/a in the US? In what sense can anyone speak of a Latin American identity? My objective with this project is to explore how, within a visual communication context, one can represent the diversity of Venezuelan national identity. The general public often defines design as a field that creates only commercial products or, in the simplest of ways, creates merely decorative objects. However, design plays a critical role in society, and that is one that both shapes and reflects the values of culture. I believe that the role of design is to perform important cultural work by playing with and shifting awareness about society. As a designer, I aim to create a balance between form, concept, theory, and technology in order to design a product that engages the audience in the complex subject matter of cultural and national identity. This creative project is not intended to be a featurelength film but a prototype for one method to communicate the constantly-in-flux concept of cultural identity. In addition to informing my future work, I believe this project is of value to the design discipline and other humanities and social science fields.
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a brief history of venezuela Venezuela, a country called Tierra de Gracia≠ (Land of Grace), by Christopher Columbus when he arrived on its eastern shores in 1498, is situated on the northernmost end of South America. Located at the northern edge of South America, Venezuela occupies 916,445 square kilometers, about three times the size of Germany or twice the size of the state of California. The Venezuelan population is estimated at 25 million (2004) and is growing at a rate of over 1.44% per year – it is the is the fastest growing in South America and half the population is under the age of eighteen. Because Spain ruled Venezuela from 1567 to 1811, Spanish culture in particular, along with other European cultures, greatly influenced Venezuelan cultural identity. In addition, cultural influences from Africa are embedded in contemporary Venezuelan culture due to the large slave population brought from the Antilles to work on agricultural plantations. Since its inception as a place in the 1520s, Venezuela has been a hybrid culture that has been influenced and shaped from its Spanish, African, and Indigenous, origins. The ethnic groups in Venezuela comprise 68% of the mestizo (mixed) population, 21% unmixed Caucasian, 10% African, and 1% native Venezuelan indigenous peoples (2004). Even during the colonial period, native Venezuelan Indians were neither as numerous nor as culturally advanced as in Mexico and Peru. Different tribes with varying cultures and languages occupied portions of the territory. The Spanish conquest, either directly or indirectly contributed in the disappearing of many indigenous groups. As in other Spanish colonies, many died from diseases from which they had no immunity; others died because of the cruel conditions of slave. By the end of the first century of Spanish rule, some 20 tribes out of 40–50 had become extinct. During the colonial period there is evidence of widespread racial mixing. The earliest conquerors brought no Spanish women with them, and many formed relationships with native Venezuelans. It was not uncommon for the children of these unions to be recognized and legitimated by the fathers. African slavery was instituted in Venezuela to meet the growing labor demands of an emerging agricultural economy. Many of the slaves came to Venezuela not directly from Africa, but from other colonies, especially the Antilles (West Indies). Again, racial mixture was common. The children of master and slave often were free and might even have received some education and been named a beneficiary in the father’s will. As a result of these racial mixtures, Venezuelan society, from its very beginnings, was marked by a more homogeneous ethnic makeup than many other Spanish colonies that resisted colonial rule. An Exploration of Venezuelan Identity | 2
Source: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ve.html (accessed April 5, 2005)
project background Identity in Latin America exists on multiple levels, and includes both a “Latin” identity whereby a nation is viewed as possessing homogenous cultural attributes that are “Latin” and individual identities that refer to characteristics of peoples within nationstates. The consciousness of Latin America shares a history of three centuries of Spanish domination, the independence wars in which the “criollos” of several countries fought together for freedom from colonial domination, language, religion and many other common social, economic, and cultural values. The investigation and visual manifestation of the contemporary identity of people within a nation state, specifically Venezuela, is my emphasis for this project. According to Jorge Larrain in his book Identity and Modernity in Latin America, (2000, 43) the existence of the Latin American culture is shown by three facts:
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1.
Most Latin American authors who have ever written about identity assume that there is a Latin American identity, either by directly describing its characteristics or by analyzing the identity of their own countries and extending their affirmations to the rest of Latin American.
2.
The poetry, music and telenovelas, have also made possible this general perception of a Latin American identity. For instance, in the literary field many poets directly assume a Latin American perspective, such as, Pablo Neruda in Canto General, Jose Marti, Ruben Dario, and Cesar Vallejo. The recurrence of archetypal towns in the contemporary Latin American novel such as; Rumi in Ciro Alegrias, El mundo es ancho y Ajeno, Macondo in Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cien Años de Soledad, Comala in Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo, etc. These towns, even though they are all local, have become universal places, where the demarcation line between history and myth is diffused, representing a golden age that provides stability, happiness, and a sense of identity.
3.
This consciousness, that does not belong to intellectuals and novelists only, but also to common people, is shown by the marked enjoyment of each other’s music, novels, dance and soap operas. Most Latin American practices have an important and widespread continental impact. Brazilian sambas, Colombian cumbias, Mexican corridos, Argentinean tangos, and Cuban salsa, are not only heard daily on the radio and danced in parties all over Latin American but they are also expressions with which Latin American people easily and spontaneously communicate. In television, the soap operas from Brazil, Argentina. Mexico, Venezuela and Chile are exported and watched with enormous interest everywhere in Latin America. This sense of a common identity is also show
by reactions in World Cup futbol competitions. When some Latin American national teams are eliminated, allegiances tend to switch to those which are still in competition. This is significant because more and more in Latin America the popular consciousness of national identity is mediated by futbol. Uruguayan author Mario Sambarino puts forward the idea that there is no common culture between Latin American nations. For him there is no such thing as a “Latin American” being. I do not completely agree with him because I believe there are very strong national identities in Latin American countries and each national identity in Latin America has both a common Latin American identity and a specific national identity. It is also possible to group some countries within Latin America as sharing characteristics that are more common with one another than with the rest of the continent. An excellent example is the case of Argentina and Uruguay (southern cone with close ties to Europe) or Peru and Bolivia (with Andean heritage characteristics). Darcy Ribeiro (1970, 12) has proposed a classification that is possible to distinguish three or four groupings with different characteristics, these include: • Witness people (Mexico, Central America, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador): People of the countries where there was a large indigenous population who resisted Spanish colonization. Literally, they witnessed their conquest by the Spanish and, for many, resisted mixing with the colonizers (referring to lineage). In these countries there continues to be a large indigenous population. • New people (Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Caribbean nations, Chile and Paraguay): People of the countries where a high percentage of the population are mestizo and there is a low percentage of indigenous peoples. • Transplanted peoples (Uruguay and Argentina): People that moved from other nations (Europe) after the first colonization of Latin America. In this research I will primarily focus on the analysis of the character and evolution of cultural elements common to contemporary Venezuelans. I keep in mind that, in Latin America, identities are often closely linked. This is why in studying identity formation in Latin America it is impossible to avoid a reference to this interplay between national, regional, and the larger Latin American identity.
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project influences In my research for this project and others I have undertaken that focus on identity formation, ethnography, and cultural representation, I have found a range of graphic designers, writers, artists, and intellectuals who explore issues related to culture and identity in their work and whose work influences this project. Among the most significant are: Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan (US artists and writers)
Warren Lehrer & Judith Sloan. Crossing the Boulevard. (2003)
Lehrer and Sloan use design as a method and form of realization to communicate “human interest stories” and practices of every day life. In their most recent publication, Crossing the Boulevard (Lehrer and Sloan, 2003) ethnographic interviews are conducted from the view point of strangers, neighbors, and aliens in a new America in order to illustrate the different cultures that encompass the community of Roosevelt Boulevard in Queens, New York. (http://www.warrenlehrer.com/horizon/index.html) Hollis Frampton (US avant-garde photographer/filmmaker)
Frampton moved from being primarily a still photographer to creating the avant-garde film movement known as “New American Cinema.” Nostalgia is a black and white film composed of twelve still photographs. Each photograph is accompanied by a commentary, but the sound and the image are not together. The film is about words and the kind of relationship that words can have to images. The film suggests that people absorb information first with their eyes and then expect the sound to correspond to what is seen. This film completely takes that away and confuses people by showing one thing and hearing another, so the relationship between hearings and seeing is transform. (http://www.haussite.net) Hollis Frampton. Nostalgia. (1971)
Trinh T. Minh-ha (Vietnamese-American filmmaker, writer and
composer)
Trinh T. Minh-ha. Surname Viet Given Name Nam. ( 1989)
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Her works include: Shoot for the Contents, a film on culture, art and politics in China, Surname Viet Given Name Nam, a film on identity and culture through the struggle of Vietnamese women. This documentary explores the role of Vietnamese women historically and in contemporary society. Using dance, printed texts, folk poetry and the words and experiences of Vietnamese women in Vietnam—from both North and South—and the United States, Trinh’s film challenges official culture with the voices of women. A theoretically and formally complex work, Surname Viet Given Name Nam explores the difficulty of translation, and themes of dislocation and exile, critiquing both traditional society and life since the war. (http://www.wmm.com/catalog/pages/c58.htm)
Hanna Hoch (German Dada movement artist)
Her style was formed as a direct protest to war, civil and international, She and other Dada artists held revolutionary political belief, such as fascism and sexism during pre-WWI era. Her intention was to break the audiences’ traditional frame of perception, revealing both visually and conceptually a new image of the chaos of war and revolution. Photomontage is the media that she applied in her work as a means to apply the principles of simultaneous and phonetic poetry to visual representation and to juxtapose disparate elements to form a new unity. Maria Rogal (US Designer and design educator) Hanna Hoch, Untitled. (1970)
Who spent her formative years traveling internationally and has lived in Laos, Peru, and Liberia. Her transcultural background influences her work, which focuses on visual culture, design, and identity. She had work on several projects that investigate the impact and relevance of graphic design and visual culture in the Americas. In her work, “embrace: the Mexico series” she explains; “México, like any other place but perhaps more so, is signified by its rich culture – manifested in the visual. Her work attempts to peel back the surface of what we are typically presented with – to discover the details and explore them as they create the whole – which is greater and more vast than simply the sum of its parts”. (www.mariarogal.com) Ruth Behar (Cuban-American, poet, writer, filmmaker,
anthropologist, and educator) Maria Rogal. On the 4th of July at the Maya School. (2003)
Ruth Behar. Translated Woman. (1993)
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Since her youth, Ruth Behar has had a strong attachment to the Spanish-speaking world. During the past twenty years she has traveled numerous times to Spain, Mexico, and Cuba. She has written about her experience of crossing cultural borders as a poet, essayist, fiction writer, editor, and ethnographer. She is now turning to documentary filmmaking to seek yet another expression of her unique vision of the meaning of home in an age of travel and homesickness. Her book, Translated Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza’s Story (Beacon Press, 1993), an account of her friendship with a Mexican street peddler, gained her national prominence. Translated Woman was named a Notable Book of the Year for 1993 by the New York Times. (http://www.ruthbehar.com/ transwom.htm)
Phillip Rodriguez (American producer & director filmmaker)
Phillip Rodriguez. Los Angeles Now (2004)
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A documentary filmmaker and Los Angeles native, Rodriguez is driven by a desire to chronicle and translate the dramatic cultural changes occurring in the western United States. Rodriguez grew up in Los Angeles, while the city was still in the thick of its Anglo Century. He has witnessed the dramatic demographic and cultural change that his city has undergone in the past two decades. The Los Angeles of today is a brown city. His latest film Los Angeles Now is a feature-length HiDef documentary that examines the implications of this city’s post-Anglo future. (http://www.losangelesfilm.org./film/ filmmakers.html)
process and methodology This project was initially conceived as a continuation of my research in Mexico during Spring 2004, when I participated in the research/international study project entitled MIRA: Multimedia Interdisciplinary Research in Anthropology. During that research program time, I worked in Playa del Carmen and was introduced to ethnographic research, which, to some extent, informs my work. I learned how to more completely design a research project to investigate cultural identity, conduct semi-structured interviews in order to elicit information from informants, and approach practice of visual documentation from multiple vantage points that integrate values from anthropology and design disciplines. I wanted to continue in this research vein and designed this project to consider how ethnography and design could meet in order to produce a visual product that would explore cultural identity and everyday life. Initially, I considered continuing my research in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. However, given my long-term interest in the signifying practices of Venezuelan identity, and the fact that in the US, I am often confused with being a Mexican (a point that I don’t mind), I instead made the decision to explore Venezuelan cultural identity because it is both under-investigated and a subject that I am personally connected with.
PROJECT METHODOLOGY I began this project by reading about Venezuela, national and cultural identity, including Latin American identity. In addition, my readings covered postcolonial theory (Fernandez, 1979), cultural hybridity (Sambrino, 1980), and contemporary cultural theory (Larrain, 2000). I also began to look for visual resources that I had on hand from Venezuela. A crucial component of my project involved interviewing Venezuelans living in the United States to ask them what it means to be Venezuelan. Often it is only when people leave their homelands do they feel a sense of national or cultural identity and belonging. It is the contrast of being the “other,” or outside of a dominant culture that foregrounds difference on the one hand, and prompts one to search for sameness or what is absent on the other. I wanted to document their observations on identity, everyday life, and what it means to be Venezuelan. What are the elements of their identity? How they perceived in the US and by whom? How do they perceive themselves? What are they proud of? In what way they feel different from members of other Latin-American cultures?
The project methodology was qualitative in nature. I note that because design requires iteration, this was an iterative process and thus does not follow a linear chronology of events. This project consisted of four phases: Research, Documentation, An Exploration of Venezuelan Identity | 8
Analysis, and Design. Research: I gathered information on identity and culture from a
broad range of resources including anthropology, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies. I then synthesized these sources, and analyzed them to inform my study. Documentation: I conducted informal interviews with Venezuelans
living in Florida and Venezuela. To do this, I developed a list of questions to use as a guide to elicit opinions and information on identity. These included: “what does it mean to be Venezuelan?,” “what does Venezuelanness look like?,” and “what are the representations of Venezuelan identity?” Analysis: I organized and categorized the materials I collected. I
looked for patterns and connections in the materials that I collected which included ephemera, video interviews, and photographs. Design: In consideration of the data collected, I explored how
to best use this information to develop a designed product to communicate my findings. This phase consisted of story boarding, development of visual prototypes, and critique in order to yield effective results. Of primary concern was how to integrate a wide range of materials and make these available for an international audience. METHODOLOGY IN PRACTICE In order to explore these questions, I set out to interview Venezuelans who I knew personally and who I believed demonstrated a diversity among the Venezuelans living in Florida, keeping in mind gender, age, political views, and economic status. I conducted interviews with four people living in Florida and note that in the editing process, two appear in the final product because they demonstrated the range in diversity and had, in my mind, divergent thoughts on what it means to be Venezuelan. I conducted these interviews in a semi-structured manner that was conversational in nature. These interviews were videotaped for later use. During the interviews, I asked the following questions: Interview Questions posed to Venezuelans living in Florida
• How many years have you been the United States? • How did you imagine that the United State was before you came? • Describe the city you are from? How is the environment there? How are the people? • What is the main reason you came to live in the United States? • What did you do in Venezuela? • How would you describe Venezuelans? What does it mean to be a Venezuelan?
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• Did you ever feel rejected in any circumstances here in the United States? • What are the things you miss the most from Venezuela? • Describe a regular weekend back in Venezuela? Do you do the same things here? • Is there any other Latin American country that you think is similar to Venezuela? Why? • Has anyone ever asked you if you were Mexican? • Describe your relationship with your Venezuelan friends compared with your friends from other Latin American countries. Is it the same? Different? Why? • Do you considered yourself Latino/a? What does it mean to be Latino/a? • Are you machista? Are you a feminist, liberal, or conservative? • Do you feel homesick? What do you do when you feel homesick? • There are people that say that they live here but their heart is always where they are from. Which is your opinion about that? Returning to Venezuela
Realizing that it would be integral to this project to “show” the Venezuelan environment, and wanting to interview Venezuelans, I spent two weeks in Venezuela (January 2005) and during this time I took photographs and videos in Ciudad Bolivar and Caracas, two cities where I had lived. Interview Questions posed to Venezuelans living in Venezuela
Screen capture of Neptaly Hurtado’s interview
• How many years have you lived in this city? • Have you ever lived in a different city in Venezuela or outside the Venezuela? How was it? • Describe an ordinary day in your life. From the time you wake up until you go to sleep. • What do you do during the weekends? • How do you describe Venezuelans? What does it mean to be a Venezuelan? • Do you considered yourself Latino/a? What does it mean to be Latino/a? It is any different being Venezuelan and Latino/a? • Is there any other Latin American country that you think is similar to Venezuela? Why? • Are you machista? Are you a feminist, liberal, or conservative? • What is your opinion about the United Sates? • Would you like to live in the United States or in any other country? • If you were to leave Venezuela, what would you bring with you to remind you of home? I interviewed Neptaly Hurtado, a family friend who is a social worker and has worked with a diverse group of Venezuelans. I asked Neptaly the same questions I asked of the Venezuelans living in the United States. Neptaly suggested that people act according to their
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environment. He repeatedly mentioned the differences between people from different parts of Venezuela and described their regional characteristics and how his fellow citizens, from different parts of the country, are very different from him in terms of how they act. For example, people on the coast are warmer because of the sun and the beach.
Screen capture of Vanessa Valery’s interview
I also interviewed Vanessa Valery, 27, a recent graduate from dental school. Since she was born she has lived in Caracas, the capital and the most cosmopolitan city in the country. I was interested in this interview because she is from the capital and claims three generations of Spanish heritage. In other words, she does not identify herself as mestiza or criolla, as I do. However, she does identify herself as Venezuelan. In my conversation with her, she revealed what I expected of the young generation: she is very proud of her country, the natural resources, and that she would never want to be from anywhere else because Venezuela has “everything” (referring to natural resources). Through my reading I learned that in the 1980s there was a government program to create national pride and the primary method was to inspire love for the country through an ideological exploitation of the diversity of natural resources, including the savannah, beaches, mountains, and bodies of water – some of which are world renown such as Angel Falls. I relate to this because I lived through this experience myself. Why would I want to leave Venezuela when we have everything here?
Return to Florida
When I returned to the United States, I organized my footage and photographs and transcribed the interviews. At this time, I sorted the resources and story boarded the video. This became a difficult process because of the complexity of the information - or raw data. At this time I was particularly concerned with how to integrate ethnography and design in a way that would be meaningful. In particular, and one critical thing I learned during MIRA, was that it is important to show the context. With this in mind, I continued to evaluate my materials and the structure of the video. I chose to create a multimedia product, rather than something static or purely video, in order to integrate the wide range of resources as a means to create a controlled time-based experience. I continued to conduct interviews and interviewed Dr. Juan Carlos Molleda , a journalism professor at the University of Florida. His research interests are in global corporate public relations (intercultural communications) and public relations practices and education in Latin America. Because of his research interest and his knowledge of Latin American cultures, his responses were analytical. For example he claimed that by studying other cultures he had learned a lot about his own and also the differences within An Exploration of Venezuelan Identity | 11
Venezuelan culture. He commented on the difference in the environment between the US and Venezuela, and noted the light in Maracaibo is brighter than in the United States. This is because of the geographic position of Venezuela. Maracaibo is in the northern Caribbean area.
Screen capture of Juan Carlos Molleda’s interview
Screen capture of Germary Figueroa’s interview
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In addition, I interviewed Germary Figueroa , a civil engineer student at the University of Florida. She is one of the Venezuelan friends I had made \living in Gainesville. I chose to interview her and included in my project because she is a very typical young Venezuelan woman and also because she is from a region of Venezuela, where people are characterized to have an outgoing personality. Since she was a teenager she has lived between Venezuela and the United States. She first came as an exchange student and did her last year of high school in New York. Then she returned to Venezuela, decided to study there but because of the social and political problems the public universities have (strikes) she found herself losing time. Four years ago she decided to come back to the US and since that time she has been living in Gainesville, studying at Santa Fe Community College and this spring was accepted to the University of Florida. She told me that the first time she came to the USA she felt like an outcast, first because she was the only exchange student at her school and also she felt that people where judging her for her personal behavior that is socially acceptable in Venezuela. Germary has little reserve in social relations; this is something normal among Venezuelans and this is evident in her informal and open personality. Most Venezuelans are effusive in their demonstrations of warmth and affection. Physical contact is a significant part of normal social behavior. In Venezuela it is customary for women to be kissed on greeting and parting, and men often warmly embrace one another. Emotions are displayed publicly on a regular basis. For example, impatience and aggression are frequently evident in the gestures and horn blowing of frustrated motorist in the traffic jams of the large cities
DEVELOPING THE VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THIS PROJECT
Photomontage of Mexican stereotypes/animated in final project
After I gathered my data I met with my committee to discuss my first structure /proposal of my project. At that time I was considering developing this project as a documentary video, due to the nature of my exploration and study of ethnographic films, which were an influence on this project. A common element is to create a linear narrative that provides the historical context to support the primary subject, for example, depicting the Origin, past, consequences and result. After discussing how my project will be different from traditional documentaries but at the same time communicate the message, and considering that neither the subject nor process was linear, I made the decision to structure it as a nonlinear narrative. This was, in some respects, a challenge because as a designer and communicator, I hold direct and clear communication as a primary value. The non-linear narrative format that structures the project allows for a deliberate, metaphorical weaving of the disparate yet connected elements to form the whole. At the same time, it creates a rhythm and variety of types of information in an attempt to engage the viewer.
Photomontage of Venezuelan stereotypes/animated in final project
Screen capture of Puerto La Cruz’s beach
I note that when I showed this project to Venezuelan friends, their reaction was that I was depicting Venezuela as a negative, violent country. I attempted to balance this by including images of the places that Venezuelans themselves enjoy the most – the beaches and mountains. I also began to understand our connection, as Venezuelans, to the environment and in many respects, it seemed that is what Venezuelans living in the USA miss the most –the environment. Due to the material I used (images, words, and sounds) I chose to move away from literal communication, which also supported the nonlinear structure. I selected from footage with the intent of emphasizing positions, gesticulations, behaviors, dialogues, tones of voice, clothing, attitudes, environments, distances, etc. For this prototype I decided my participation (my voice/poem) was necessary. I could show the footage of quotidian Venezuelan life and mix it with broadcast news footage. The interviews interrupt the linear order of my speech and video footage. I chose to order the interviews based on geographic location and age: Neptaly, Vanessa, Juan Carlos and Germary. I designed an introduction for each of my participants. The audience first sees where they are from on a map of Venezuela and has a brief description of who they are. This adds context to the interviews.
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Narrative
While doing my research and reading, I located the writing of a famous Venezuelan journalist, lawyer, theatre professor, and investigator in Social Sciences, Luis Britto Garcia. In his poem; El Discurso del Privilegio (The Speech of Privilege) he describe different behavioral aspects of Venezuelan culture. This poem was resonant to me as a way to articulate our collective identity, and so I selected excerpts from his poem and combined them with my own writing to create the narrative for this creative project. In his poem, Britto García describes some aspects of Venezuelan mentality and social conduct and what I found most interesting was that he compared the good and bad in society. Describing, for example, how Venezuelan society claims to not be prejudice, while in the end, it is quite the opposite. At the same time described the informality of Venezuelans as a key characteristic of Venezuelan society, communicating poetically the good and bad consequences of this informality in the social and politic arenas. (See Appendix A for the complete text of Britto Garcia’s poem “El Discurso del Privilegio.”) Video footage from interviews combined with animation
I edited the video footage to focus on the comments that specifically addressed what life is like in Venezuela today and what people thought was representative of Venezuela. This included what informed both personal, regional, and national identity. I created individual animations for each of the four interviews, which showed their places of origin and provided brief introductions of their backgrounds. I used their words to create a narrative for the project. Photographic and Video Montages
Opening animations for each interviewee introduces them by name, occupation, and where they are from in Venezuela.
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When I returned from Venezuela I brought many photographs of the environment of the two cities I visited. I noticed the diversity of architectural design that these cities have and wanted to communicate this in my work. I did not think a slide show that repeated photos of colonial and contemporary architectural design would be engaging or meaningful. What I learned during the MIRA project was that photographs are not singular in their representation of daily life, rather it is necessary to show the context. This naturally takes into account spatial and temporal relationships. Because of this, I chose to combine and juxtapose the photographs I took of Venezuela in order to provide deeper insight into the lived experience of these cities. I selected the images of Maracaibo and Puerto la Cruz to montage from input by Juan Carlos Molleda and Germary Figueroa. They emerged from my interview questions that asked “what are the icons that remind you of your city?” As I have lived in Caracas and Ciudad Bolivar, I selected significant architectural, cultural, and mass media icons. These icons are larger than life in many senses – Maria Lionza, the large statue, in Caracas, is the legendary murdered daughter of a Cacique who performs miracles.
People literally risk their lives to give her offerings in the middle of the highway. For example, in Maracaibo, the Virgen de Chiquinquira, also known as La Chinita, is the patron of the region.
Ciudad Bolivar Photomontage
Caracas Photomontage
In addition, during my second year in the MFA program, I researched designers who work in photomontage and/or propaganda. These designers included Hannah Hoch, April Greiman, John Heartfield, Wolfgang Weingartand, Luba Lukova and the Venezuelan cartoon/ political/designer Pedro Leon Zapata. Their work challenged the traditional ways of working and in creating work that defamilized the audience, they were able to engage and persuade their audience. Photomontage, specifically, alters the spatial and temporal relationships between the parts – allowing for combining elements from various resources to create a new representation that supports the communication objective. For this reason, I chose to make photomontages where I could visualize both the architectural environment of and everyday life in these cities. For example In the Caracas photo collages, I combined many impressive buildings with colonial architecture and”ranchos”(signifies the owner built shack typical of the shantytown, and is at the opposite end of the social scale to the “quinta”, the large house of the well-to-do (Ferguson, 1994,46). The composition is very crowded because Caracas is one of the most crowded cities in Venezuela, and a city where social inequality in Venezuela is most apparent. I added the element that I consider very important in every day life of any “caraqueño” – that is the traffic jam. Caraqueños spend at least three hours everyday (and those who live in the suburbs often more) in traffic. People who live in Caracas are so used to traffic jams that they accept them as a part of daily life. When I returned to Caracas in January and was stuck in the traffic for an hour and half, I was really angry, desperate, and sweating. I videotaped the traffic line next to me, seeing the same car coming back in my viewfinder every 20 seconds. I noticed the people were calm, some were talking on the phone, laughing or looking as they were arguing with someone, or on a business call. Others were singing along to the radio, having animated conversations with people in the car. Some even said “hello” to me by waving to the camera as we moved along. I treated the video footage in a similar manner as its intended effect was the same. I designed photographic and video collages to communicate the environment, urban context, and material culture of Venezuela. My intention was to communicate a sense of being there.
Maracaibo Photomontage
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Music
For each section of interviews and location, I chose typical music from the cities or regions. This is an aspect that differentiates us in Venezuela. The typical sounds of the coast are mixed with AfricanCaribbean drums and this at the same time has its variations from the west to the east sides of the coast. While in Venezuela there are many genres of music, they are primarily a mix of rhythms and sounds from many other cultures. Caracas, the most cosmopolitan city in Venezuela, has also long been the principal point of entry for customs, fashions and culture from other countries, many rapidly assimilated by the wealthy sectors of society. This also has been the main influence of creative force in the arts, perhaps above all in popular music, which is a blend of national and foreign, traditional and modern forms. For example, in this project, I selected a typical song from the 60s blended with new sounds to be representative of Caracas.
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analysis/conclusions Technology is increasingly becoming easier to use and more accessible. It has arrived almost everywhere. Living in an image-based culture that changes with the rhythms of fashion and publicity television, we have been educated to see images, to read visual texts, to communicate through the image. But how are these images transmitted and received? How do they position a culture, a people? And are they socially responsible? When I set out to explore the signifying practices of Venezuelan identity and I sought visual sources all I could locate were typical tourist videos and books that showed Venezuela as an exotic land – rural, embedded in the past, and evocative of the lost paradise. This was a reality that I never experienced as a Venezuelan living my daily life. Even though these aspects were represented in tourism materials, for example, there was no singular icon or group of signifiers that were representative of “Venezuelan culture.” These representations were similar to what I had seen, as demonstrated in my video, of Mexicanness – narrow and not representative of a diverse and changing culture. Instead of supporting the status quo or a marketing agenda, I drew from my research in postcolonial theory and made the deliberate decision to design a counter hegemonic representation of Venezuela. Thus, I incorporated my research and methods of design and ethnography to represent contemporary Venezuela through a lens of quotidian life. My intentions of combining design research with ethnographic methods allows for the expansion of a design methods in order to integrate the “voice,” literally and figuratively, of the people. I am studying my culture but at the same time I view this through the filter of living in the United States. In this way, I am in an advantageous position – being able to view Venezuelan culture from the inside and out. A primary objective of this project is to demystify the stereotypes that, as I have written earlier, consider everything south of Texas to be the same. I hope to promote cultural sensitivity with this product, and to enable people, especially those living in the US, to understand the diversity of Venezuela, and therefore Latin American culture. This project is also intended for a Venezuelan audience – so we can see our culture through a lens that is different from what is presented in popular media. This is why I chose to embrace the “ethnographic moment” and to focus on the details of everyday life and cultural context.
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further directions In expanding this project, I will conduct more interviews with Venezuelans living in other regions of the country, in order to develop more descriptions and reactions about the country and Venezuelan culture. I will also continue to refine the collage style to defamiliarize the audience through a combination of documentary and surrealistic visual languages. Another component that will be valuable to consider is to explore the Venezuelan obsession with the image of the body.
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terminology Culture: This term is perhaps the most problematic, in part because
there are numerous definitions that are dependent on various theoretical frameworks and disciplinary philosophies. In everyday language we tend to use it in at least two senses. On the one hand we speak of cultured people and places full of culture, uses that imply a knowledge or presence of certain forms of behavior or of artistic expression that are socially prestigious (Goodenough 1989). In this sense large cities and prosperous people tend to be seen as the most cultured. I grew up with this same conception and believed that if I moved away from my samll town, I too would be more cultured. On the other hand, there is an interpretation of “culture” that is broader and more anthropological; culture in this broader sense refers to whatever “traditions, beliefs, customs, and creative activities characterize a given community, in short, it refers to what makes that community different from others” (Goodenough, 1989). In this second sense, I believe that everyone has culture; indeed, it is impossible to be without culture. Hybridity: Started life as a biological term, used to describe the
outcome of a crossing of two plants or species. It is now a term for a wide range of social and cultural phenomena involving “mixing”, and has become a key concept within cultural criticism and postcolonial theory. (Avtar Brah, Annie Coombes) Identity: The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which
an individual is recognizable as a member of a group. The quality or condition of being the same as something else. (Dinneen,2001) Idiosyncrasies : a way of behaving, thinking, or feeling that is
peculiar to an individual or group. Mestizo: It was called in the America colonial period to the son/
daughter of a Spaniard and an India, and in a broader term, somebody who has parents or ancestors of different racial origins. (Dinneen,2001) Hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one state or
social group over others. (Concise Oxford Dictionary Tenth Edition, 1999)
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bibliography Behar, Ruth. 1993. Translated Woman Crossing the Border with Esperanza’ Story. Boston: Beacon Press. Dimitriadis, Greg, and Cameron McCarthy. 2001. Reading and teaching the postcolonial: from Baldwin to Basquiat and beyond. New York: Teachers College Press. Dinneen, Mark. 2001. Culture and Customs of Venezuela. Westport, Connecticut. London. Greenwood Press. Fernandez Retamar, Roberto. 1979. Caliban y otros Ensayos. La Habana: Editorial Arte y Literatura. Ferguson, James. 1994. Venezuela in Forcus: Guide to the People, Pilitics and Culture. London: Latin America Bureau. Goodnough, David. 1998. Simón Bolívar: South American Liberator. Springfield, NJ : Enslow Publishers. Larrain, Jorge. 2000. Identity and Modernity in Latin America. Walden, MA: Polity Press. Laurel, Brenda, Editor. 2003. Design Research: Methods and Perspectives. Massachusetts: MIT Press. Lehrer, Warren & Sloan, Judth. 2002. Crossing the Boulevard: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new america. New York: Norton. Liebman, Seymour. 1976. Exploring The Latin American Mind. Chicago: Nelson-Hall. Oboler, Suzanne. 1995. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press. Ribeiro, Darcy. 1970. Americas and the Civilization-Process of Formation and Causes of the Different Cultural Development of the American Peoples. Rio de Janeiro: Editorial Civilizacion Brasileira. Sambarino, Mario. 1980. Identidad Tradicion Autenticidad, tres problemas de America Latina. Caracas,Venezuela: (CELARG) Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos Rómulo Gallegos. Wright, Winthrop. 1993. Café con Leche, Race, Class, and National Image in Venezuela. Austin: University of Texas Press.
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appendix “El Discurso del Privilegio” by Luis Britto García
I
Todos somos café con leche. No hay diferencia social. Quien estudia, llega. No estudia quien no quiere. Este es un país de oportunidades. Todos somos hermanos. Aquí no hay prejuicio. Aquí no hay discriminación. Aquí no hay distancias. Todo el mundo te trata de tú. Todos pueden hacerse ricos. La gente está contenta con lo que tiene. Aquí no hay desigualdad. Los amos quieren a sus esclavos como hijos. Los esclavos quieren como padres a sus amos. El discurso del privilegio es igualitario. II
Nosotros. Los que nos diferenciamos de los otros. La gente. La gente pensante. Los pocos. Los pocos y selectos. Los pocos que sólo somos comprendidos por poquísimos. Los que no somos comprendidos. Los que no nos dirigimos a todos. Los que no permitimos que nadie se nos dirija. Los que no tenemos interlocutores válidos. Los que sabemos hablar. Los que sabemos hablar inglés. La meritocracia. La crema. La última cola del desierto. Los que somos publicados en los sitios adecuados. Los que copamos las instancias de legitimación. Los que manejamos los instrumentales del discurso. Los que ejercemos la veridicción. Los que dominamos las ciencias del lenguaje. Los que monopolizamos los términos. Los que no necesitamos las palabras. Los que nos expresamos con propiedad. Los que nos expresamos con la propiedad. La gente de los medios. La gente de medios. Los únicos que podemos hablar. Los únicos que debemos hablar. Los únicos. El discurso del privilegio monopoliza el privilegio del discurso. III
El pueblo está callado. Calma y cordura. Aquí nos queremos todos. Nadie abriga resentimientos. No hay motivos de conflicto. Aquí nunca pasa nada. Ningún escándalo dura tres días. Se acaba la fiesta y todo el mundo a su casa. Somos pura bulla. Todo se negocia. El venezolano olvida. No hay mal que dure cien años. Mientras el palo va y viene, las espaldas descansan. Este es un pueblo sano. Todo se perdona. La conflictividad es inventada por agitadores de oficio. El discurso del privilegio es ataráxico. IV
Pobre, economiza. Explotado, produce. Hambriento, ayuna. Tiranizado, obedece. Oprimido, resígnate. Analfabeto, ignora. Humillado, humíllate. Amordazado, cállate. Manso, acobárdate. Despojado, sacrifícate. Encadenado, aquiétate. Olvidado, bórrate. Incomunicado, aíslate. Alienado, globalízate. Marginado, exclúyete. Enfermo, muérete. Desposeído, defiende lo que no tienes. Víctima, inmólate. Sacrificado, comparte el sacrificio. Sin tierra, desterritorialízate. Desesperado, no caigas en la tentación de la esperanza. El discurso del privilegio desalienta a quienes no tienen An Exploration of Venezuelan Identity | 21
nada, salvo la esperanza, a favor de los que tienen todo, salvo esperanzas.VDespués. Más tarde. Más adelante. A posteriori. Mañana. En la otra vida. No hay prisa. Los grandes proyectos deben meditarse en calma. No hay que quemar etapas. Tras la formación de ciudadanos. Tras el proceso civilizatorio. Tras la formulación del proyecto. Tras la creación de vanguardias ilustradas. Tras la necesaria acumulación de capitales. Tras la industrialización. Tras la formación de una verdadera clase obrera. Tras la modernización. Tras el desarrollo. Tras la integración de las élites. Tras la unificación por la guía eclesial. Tras la globalización. Tras la aplicación integral de los paquetes económicos. Tras la inserción en el mercado internacional. Tras la renuncia a la esperanza. El discurso del privilegio es postergatorio. VI
Siempre habrá pobres y ricos. Siempre habrá privilegiados. Siempre se heredará la propiedad. Siempre se heredará el poder político. Las leyes de la economía de mercado. Las leyes de la evolución. Las leyes de la genética. Las leyes de la vida. La ley del triunfo de la civilización sobre la barbarie. La ley del triunfo de la raza superior. La ley del Talión. La ley del revólver. La ley del más fuerte. El discurso del privilegio se confunde con la ley natural. El discurso del privilegio se confunde. VII
El venezolano es flojo. El venezolano es desordenado. El venezolano es impuntual. El venezolano es derrochador. El venezolano es atrasado. El venezolano es incumplido. El venezolano es machista. El venezolano es autoritario. El venezolano es vulgar. El venezolano es rentista. La patria huele a nigua. Este es un país de mestizos. Negros. Indios. Zambos. Bembúos. Camisas de mochila. Gentuza. Desdentados. Zarrapastrosos. Alpargatúos. Pata en el suelo. Malandros. Vándalos. Bestias. Monos. Primates. Micos. Macacos. Chimpancés. Niches. Pelomalos. Tierrúos. Turba. Escoria. Horda. Chusma. Especimenes. Ralea. Jauría. Bandas. Lumpen. El discurso del privilegio en cuanto califica se descalifica. VIII
No debemos pronunciarnos pero me pronuncio. Renunciemos a la opinión, pero opino. Es vacuo condenar o absolver, pero condeno. Envolvámonos en el silencio mientras grito. Abstengámonos del debate mientras debato. No militemos, al tiempo que milito. Aborrezcamos tomar partido pero tomo partido. Alejémonos de todo bando pero únete al mío. No participemos, pero participo. No juzguemos, pero sentencio. No nos pronunciemos, pero repruebo. No adhiramos a ideologías, pero me cuadro. No me manifiesto, pero censuro. No polemizo, pero veto. No admito directrices, dogmatizo. No me adelanto, pero voy con el Adelantado. Amparémonos en la legalidad para el golpe de Estado. Yo no lancé el paro, sino que se me fue de las manos. Yo no fui, pero siempre he sido. No soy ni lo uno ni lo otro, sino todo lo contrario. El discurso del
An Exploration of Venezuelan Identity | 22
privilegio tira la piedra y esconde la mano. IX
Todos somos culpables. Aquí nos conocemos todos. Aquí nadie es inocente. Nadie puede tirar la primera piedra. Todos tenemos rabo de paja. Todos tenemos tejado de vidrio. Tiburón se baña pero salpica. Somos una sociedad de cómplices. El discurso del privilegio es chantajista. X
Mi único verso. Mi cuento único. Mi único ensayo. Mi perfume único que sólo se vende en frasco microscópico. Mi único estudio sobre el estudio de Mengano sobre el estudio de Zutano sobre Octavio Paz. Mi talento único que no condesciende a plasmarse en la imperfección de la obra. Mi única obra que jamás condescenderá a mostrarse. Mi silencio único cuidadosamente administrado. Mi único silencio que no debe ser interpretado como silencio únicamente. El discurso del privilegio es estéril. XI
Mi beca. Mi subsidio. Mi instituto. Mi ascenso. Mi decanato. Mi rectorado. Mi senaduría. Mi diputación. Mi museo. Mi juzgado. Mi agregaduría. Mi embajada. Mi ministerio. Mi pensión. Mi dividendo. Mi National Endowment for Democracy. Mi Club. Mi cenáculo. Mi rosca. Mi círculo. Mi periódico. Mi canal. Mi programa. Mi apellido. Mi familia. Mi herencia. Mi clase. Mi whisky. Mi restaurante preferido en París. Mi receta. Mi chef. Mi estilista. Mi sastre. El discurso del privilegio es tarifado. Si todos toleraran el privilegio, no habría que encomiarlo. Si nadie amenazara el privilegio, no habría que defenderlo. El discurso del privilegio surge ante la amenaza contra el privilegio, y su intensidad es directamente proporcional a esa amenaza. El único fruto del privilegio es su discurso. Sus víctimas producen todo lo demás.