derrierre / atrás
Arica, Norte de Chile - No Lugar y Lugar de Todos
Video Installation, 76:00 min. - 21:00 min. Language : Spanish, Subtitle : German / French. 2010
As the starting point of her video essay, Ingrid Wildi Merino (b. in 1963 Santiago de Chile and migrated to Switzerland in 1981) takes the problems of how regional identities develop, if they are bound to territory, and how they fit into local history. In three projections Wildli Merino displays her travels in the multicultural region of Arica, accompanied by interviews with people who live and work there. The artist focused on North Chile because this region is a major economic hub and has always been multicultural.
Early in the 20th century it was the saltpeter mines near Iquique for manufacturing fertilizer and explosives that attracted international concerns and economic migrants; now in the 21st century it is copper mines, tourism, the fishing industry, and drug trafficking that determines life in the mediumsized city and the region. But also cultural tensions between Bolivians, Peruvians, and Chileans impact the morale among the people living in the area. It is difficult to find someone who has a local family history here, as the city only belongs to Chile since 1929. Prior to this was heavily fought over for the rich mineral resources in the region and its major commercial port. The extensive footage in Wildi Merino's video of Arica evidences the specific beauty of the districts that suddenly appeared from nowhere.
Her photographs of the paved and built over environment are contrasted by interviews with representatives from the authorities, sociologists, economists, and anthropologists who voice their opinion on the history and identity of the place. What they share – in the shape of available and public space, the beach, a climate one would expect in paradise, and, by appearances, great tolerance – becomes palpable in the rhythm of the images and the easy pace of the conversations. What at first sight seems to be a typical globalized no place proves to be a place for everybody. Of course this is not meant without irony, as, due to globalization, we find winners and losers all over the world. Ingrid Wildi Merino subjects various instances of highly political, social, and regional issues to an exacting analysis. According to her findings, regional identities may be based on specific geopolitical and historical demarcations but are primarily the result of social and economical processes.
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