Marta MinujÃn. El Pago De La Deuda Externa (1985)
Diplomacy Between States in a Photo Sequence
Marta Minujín is an Argentinian conceptual and performance artist. A conversation with Andy Warhol in an art gallery in New York regarding the Latin American debt crisis inspired one of her most famous pictures. The set of ten pictures shows the artist symbolically handing the corn to Warhol as a way to pay Argentina’s external debt. The photographic sequence is divided into three stages: the first shows enmity and discomfort between the two countries: the existing debt produces bitterness and therefore they both appear on their back with their arms crossed. The second stage involves a change in position on both sides and there is openness to dialogue and negotiation to cancel the debt. And finally, the third stage, in which both parties seal the deal and cancel the obligation using the “Latin American gold” -defined with her own words- as payment.
