Visualizando las letras del mayab’: el arte descolonizador de Marilyn Boror Bor

Abstract

The work of the Maya-Kaqchikel visual artist Marilyn Boror Bor (1984) demonstrates the function of language and the letter as mechanisms of oppression, but also resistance. In this article, I analyze three artistic interventions by Boror Bor: the series of wheat-paste posters titled “Para no olvidar sus nombres” (2012), the performance “Edicto cambio de nombre: camuflaje como herramienta de desnombramiento y renombramiento de los cuerpos mayas en Guatemala” (2018), and pencil drawings from the series “¿Mundos o mapas?” (2016). At the same time, I argue that by using Maya languages and employing the body as essential tools of resistance, Boror Bor not only creates a visible presence, but also claims Indigenous belonging in Guatemala. Thus, by retaking the word to name, and to name them, her artistic work joins hemispheric Indigenous movements that continue fighting for their territorial and cultural rights.