Regina José Galindo's Tierra at MoMA PS1 Examines Colonial Violence Through Body and Land

Regina José Galindo's video piece, Tierra, from 2013, is currently on display at MoMA PS1 in New York, marking its first exhibition since it was added to the Museum of Modern Art's collection in 2020. This performance features Galindo, a Guatemalan artist, standing unclothed while a Hitachi excavator digs a trench around her. Created during the trial of former Guatemalan president General Efrain Rios Montt for crimes against humanity, it addresses the connection between land exploitation and violence against women. The thirty-minute video, filmed in one continuous shot, is showcased on a two-story wall. Previously, Tierra was exhibited at the Guggenheim in 2014 and at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico in 2021, critiquing colonial violence and the complicity of viewers in exploitation.