The Borderlands of Latinx Indigeneity: A Conversation with Simón Trujillo and Vick Quezada
The gallery at the NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis where Seed Unseed: works by Vick Quezada, an exhibition by 2019-20 The Latinx Project Artist in Residence Vick Quezada was on display.
In this inaugural episode of the Intervenxions podcast, NYU professor Simón Trujillo is joined by The Latinx Project’s 2020 Artist-in-Residence Vick Quezada for an illuminating dialogue on Latinx indigeneity, representation, sexuality, and the politics of knowledge and activism. The conversation follows the opening of Quezada’s new solo exhibition, Seed Unseed: works by Vick Quezada, which is currently on display at the NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis gallery space through May 15, 2020.
Our guests also discuss themes of land reclamation and personal narratives that appear in their respective work. Trujillo is the author of forthcoming book Land Uprising: Native Story Power and the Insurgent Horizons of Latinx Indigeneity, which is based on his research into La Alianza Federal de Mercedes, a “formative yet understudied organization of the Chicanx movement of the 1960s and 1970s” that fought for land rights in New Mexico. Trujillo shares a personal connection to La Alianza, having stumbled upon his grandparents’ involvement with the organization while enrolled as a graduate student.
Quezada is similarly engaged with personal histories of resistance and ancestral knowledge situated along the U.S.-Mexico border. In particular, the video performance at the heart of Seed Unseed explores the borderland region, specifically the lower valley of El Paso, Texas—the artist’s hometown—in order to “unearth histories about colonization and question widely accepted narratives around gender binaries.”
Listen to the full conversation below and stay tuned for the next episode of Intervenxions:
Simón Trujillo and Vick Quezada (left to right) at the SCA Flex Space.
Theme music “No Ande Sola” by TH WRKS.