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CORTE LATINO. 2013, Legazpi/Matadero de Madrid.
In almost every European country, as the crisis deepens, the xenophobic feeling grows.
Robert Filliou
The economic globalization, the expansion of the European Union, the end of national sovereignty, the creation of the euro, the disappearance of borders, the massive arrival of immigrants and the dismantling of the welfare state have caused a great uncertainty. This is produced in a framework of financial, economic and social crisis, which provokes intolerable social havoc and implies an increase of violence at all levels. The immigrants are the easiest scapegoats because they symbolize the social disorders and represent, from the European citizen’s point of view, competition in the labor market. The claim that the expulsion of three million foreigners in France that supposedly freed up as many jobs for “pureblood” French, seduced more than one in four French for a long time.
This new xenophobia is manifested more openly since numerous center-right governments currently receive support from xenophobic and nationalist parties. In Italy, Austria, Sweden and Denmark, the governments represent a coalition or a minority alliance supported by far-right parties.
In the entire European Union, extremist positions, nationalist and racist, and the acceptance of the social Darwinism, have increased significantly. The current economic crisis shifts right the political and public space. Xenophobia manifests free of complexes now. In this wonderful and fruitful socio-political climate of “European brotherhood and equality”, the relevance of the research project Latinaomerica Go.es, developed by Elgatoconmoscas and collective Expanded Architecture is undeniable. The aim of this project is to study the various cultural appropriations that occur in certain public spaces in Madrid by the Latin American communities. It was extended on August 24th with a new action under the name Elgatoconmoscas Corte Latino, developed at Matadero Madrid with the Dominican community of Legazpi.
The proposal was to celebrate a ” Caribbean day in the district of Legazpi “, culminated with amerengue and bachata concert by Your Francis and his orchestra. The neighborhood Caribbean Day included typical food from Dominican Republic, beard and haircuts and manicure in the neighborhood’s hairdressing. The “Before” and “After” photos of the haircuts and the documentation of the events that took place during the day were shown during the concert. After the concert, the party continued in the Dominicans bars, finishing the night in the karaoke “Corazón Caribeño” (Caribbean Heart) Making this type of project in Matadero Madrid is to rise a critical voice against the increasing mercantilism of this institution. Apparently, its only interest is to rent its exhibition space to contemporary art fairs full of opulent visual hardware stores which, together with the advertising, strengthen social relationships based on seduction for the goods and the use of the symbolic value of objects, ensuring the smooth running of the art market in public spaces. In contrast to this institutional policy, Elgatoconmoscas’ proposal for Rivera Matadero, organized by ¡Ja!, was to facilitate interconnections between different cultures and to enhance an essentially generous human act through the celebration (which opens a common space of freedom and expressiveness), showing performances which provide and inform about our behaviors and the different ways we relate with and love each other: A script written in acts (haircuts, drawings, manicure), a lived speech (concert, food and bars) and art as exposure of the existence of a neighborhood.
Mosca 57.
El dispositivo técnico y los honorarios de los músicos fueron financiados con el presupuesto que aportó Matadero y con dinero del colectivo, Tú Francis cantó sin cobrar a cambio de que le hiciésemos éste vídeo clip.