Chiquita Manufacturers Worldwide, previously the United Fruit Firm, is the corporate behind quite a few instances of labor rights abuses, environmental degradation, and the overthrow of democratic governments in Latin America because the starting of the Twentieth century. As students of latest Latin American artwork and bananas, we really feel compelled to deal with the irony of Chiquita supporting a good so deeply rooted in Latin American artwork — from its location in Miami to its many Latin American galleries, collectors, and artists.
Only a few months in the past, Chiquita was discovered liable in a civil case of the Federal United States District Courtroom of the Southern District of Florida for financing paramilitary killings in Colombia between 1997 and 2004, and the decide ordered the corporate to pay $38.3 million to the victims’ households. The corporate, credited by some for shaping the Twentieth-century mannequin of multinational firms and for pioneering fashionable advertising and marketing and public relations, earned the nickname “El Pulpo” (“The Octopus”) for the controversial extent of its energy, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean. All through the final century, the banana firm was behind an extended listing of violent incidents, together with the notorious 1928 Banana Bloodbath in Colombia and the 1954 coup d’état towards then-President Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala. Chiquita’s art-washing as an official sponsor of Artwork Basel Miami Seashore is due to this fact so appalling that it turns the abdomen.
The banana firm was behind an extended listing of violent incidents in Latin America.
Chiquita banana with stickers that includes the brand of Artwork Basel Miami Breach
One Chiquita Instagram advert even includes a duct-taped banana, calling it “iconic, with a touch of tape.” So right here we’re once more — simply two weeks after Sotheby’s multimillion-dollar sale of Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” (2019), the highlight is again on a White, European artist. However what concerning the tons of of Latin American artists who’re truly utilizing banana imagery to confront Chiquita’s colonial abuses?
“Iconic, with a touch of tape,” Chiquita posted on Instagram, referencing Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” (2019), which lately bought for $6.2 at public sale. (screenshot Hyperallergic)
Also known as the “capital of Latin America,” Miami has been residence to rich personalities from the Spanish-speaking Americas for many years, particularly figures from the music, movie, and artwork industries. Within the subject of latest artwork, this bridge between america and Latin America was consolidated with the opening of the Pérez Artwork Museum of Miami in 1984. As we lately defined in our opinion column for the Colombian digital media outlet La Silla Vacía, the presence of artists, galleries, collectors, and sellers of latest artwork at Artwork Basel Miami Seashore has solely continued to develop. On this December’s version, two-thirds of the galleries come “from the Americas,” with the honest being described as “the leading global platform for the discovery” of artwork from Latin American nations.
Given the honest’s sturdy Latin American character, Artwork Basel Miami Seashore deserves greater than Chiquita’s multinational branding. As a substitute, it ought to highlight the highly effective legacy of Latinx and Latin American artwork that brazenly condemns the corporate’s practices. Is Artwork Basel Miami Seashore conscious of Luis Camnitzer’s hilarious 2016 Change.org marketing campaign to vary the identify of the Republican Occasion to the “Banana Republican Party” following the election of Donald Trump as President of america? Does Chiquita know of Rachelle Mozman Solano’s fantastical video wherein the founding father of the United Fruit Firm, Minor Cooper Keith, is contaminated with Panama illness, as is the banana monoculture worldwide? Have the honest organizers seen the 2008 Could Day sequence by Andrea Chung, who at the moment has a solo present on the Museum of Modern Artwork North Miami, wherein she erases farmers from classic plantation pictures to present them a day without work? Is anybody aware of Nicolás Dumit Estévez’s sensible, queer Latinx impersonation of “Chiquito Banano“? Shouldn’t the map of Miami be redesigned as a banana, as in Dominican York artist Yunior Chiqui Mendonza’s poignant “Bananhattan,” recasting New York Metropolis within the fruit’s picture?
Luis Camnitzer, “Banana Flag” (2018-2020) (courtesy the artist)
Chiquita has lengthy profited on the expense of Latin American folks, and now it’s profiting once more by selling its model at a serious artwork honest with deep ties to the area. That is unacceptable — an organization with blood on its fingers has no place within the arts, not to mention openly associating itself with Latin American tradition. Listed here are 3 ways to reply to Chiquita’s photocalls, merchandising, and banana sampling carts for those who’re planning to attend the 2024 version of Artwork Basel Miami Seashore: Deal with the Latinx and Latin American artists and galleries on the honest; select honest commerce bananas for those who’re within the temper for a snack; and protest creatively. Take inspiration from artists like Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Jean-François Boclé, and Tonico Lemos Auad by carving your message into banana peels.
