Joiri
Minaya

For Containers, Joiri Minaya produced a series of photographs that feature her clothed in head-to-toe bodysuits printed with tropical plant designs; only her eyes, staring at the viewer, are visible. The re-appropriated fabrics in which she is enwrapped, like the landscapes with which they interact, were made to respond to the needs of an imperialist tourism industry. Her poses, retrieved from the web, were found with the search term “dominican women,” and are prescribed by the way these garments are sewn. These acts of reproduction, like the reproduced motifs on the fabric, trace a parallel with the repetition necessary for the integration of stereotypes. With The Cloaking Series, and to extend a self-reclamation of agency, Minaya wraps colonial monuments in fabric with patterns that she designed, offering evidence of her ethno-botanical research. The plants portrayed were selected for their symbolic power, drawn from narratives that exemplify their potential ability to resist the colonial system. This resistance is embodied particularly in the use of their toxic or medicinal properties requiring specific knowledge, which is transmitted within communities oppressed by that system.