Against the Grain: An Artist's Survival Guide to Peru

Ann Kaneko's documentary focuses on four Peruvian visual artists whose careers and creative output have been shaped by the military and political tumult that afflicted their country in the 1980s, '90s, and beyond. Claudio Jimenez Quispe, whose uncle was a leader in the Maoist Shining Path movement, crafted retablos (wooden display boxes used for religious art) to depict the struggle between the government and the insurgency. After creating a silk screen featuring Mao Zedong with lush ruby lips, Alfredo Márquez was tagged as a Shining Path supporter and spent four years in prison. Natalia Iguiniz has been censored by the ultraconservative Archdiocese of Lima for using poster art to challenge Peru's discomfort with feminist politics. And Eduardo Tokeshi, the politically uninvolved son of Japanese immigrants, found himself subjected to harsh racist-inspired criticism due to his shared ethnic heritage with repressive President Alberto Fujimori. Kaneko suggests that at a time when mass media was heavily censored and online communication had not yet taken root, the only creative tools left for making social statements in Peru were painting, folk art, and posters. While Against the Grain makes some interesting points, it never openly acknowledges the obvious: namely, the artists seem to have had no serious impact on shaping Peruvian society during the years of oppression. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)