This painting is from Famatina, La Rioja, a small village in the north west desert of Argentina. Famatina is surrounded by mountains supposedly filled with gold. For the past seven years, the people of Famatina have battled the mining companies and their own government in an effort to protect their land. After researching the affects of mega mining in other provinces, people from the town organized a group called Asemblea de Famatina to protect their environment.
I went to “El Corte”, the roadblock Asemblea de Famatina initiated in January to prevent mining trucks from entering the mountains. About 30 or 40 people were gathered for a meeting. I took photos of everyone to paint later, and made a few quick video interviews.
