After World War II various international agricultural associations launched the Green Revolution in the US and Mexico. The aim was to accelerate agricultural productivity in order to eradicate the hunger and malnutrition that was prevalent at that time in various countries known as developing countries. New technologies were adapted, such as pesticides, high-yield seeds and synthetic fertilizers. Monocultures of wheat, corn and rice slowly took over the fields of our planet. Cities began to feed themselves with these grains and small farmers began to disappear.
In Tener pies y no tener tierra (Having feet and no soil), Marcela Moraga spreads fertile soil on the streets of Berlin at a time when industrial agriculture is growing rapidly and biodiversity is being lost in the Berlin and Brandenburg regions. The artist performs the gesture of small farmers as they sow their own land. For Marcela Moraga, soil and small farmers are a single system of life; farmers exist thanks to their soil while the soil is fertile and diverse thanks to the farmers.
Tener pies y no tener tierra (Having feet and no soil) 2011
HD film color and sound. Loop 6‘ 20‘‘. Camera: Freiland Films
Editing: Marcela Moraga. Photos: Mónica Araus