Jessica Kairé

Critical text

The practice of Jessica Kairé (b. 1981, Guatemala City) delves into questions related to contexts of political, economic and social belonging. Her Guatemalan and Jewish roots prompt her to investigate the dynamics of power and phenomena of cultural repression and hegemony. Symbolic structures like architecture or clothings are analysed to underscore their normative characteristics, and their implicit authoritarian value, while emblems of violence like knuckledusters, truncheons and bullets are subjected to ironic shifts of material that alter their nature and use, transforming them into toys or food products. Collective histories and standards blend with personal experiences and domestic practices. The latter play a fundamental role in the representation of history and the cultural tradition of Guatemala: the violence generated in the country by an endless civil war is absorbed and converted into familiar objects rooted in everyday life. Employing multiple languages and different materials, Kairé gives rise to a playful and engaging universe in which the viewer is called upon to shape, construct or even taste the artwork.

Text by Ilaria Gianni