Lise Bjorne Linnert
Desconocida Unknown, installation Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, Philadelphia community art project, 5300 hand embroidered nametags in protest of murders of women Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
2006 - ongoing
From the artist’s website:
The situation in Ciudad Juarez gives a cruel picture of the dark side of globalization, corruption, and the in-balance between the people of power and money, and the huge population of poor, in desperate need of job. Ciudad Juarez is a typical city on the US/Mexican border “hosting” nearly 400 international factories, so called Maquilladoras or Sweat Shops. Companies such as General Electric, Sony, Nike, Gap, and many more, change their companies name when they cross the border to employ Mexican workers, in majority women, for a very low cost. They do not pay tax, neither to Mexico nor the US, enhancing their profit. The possibilities of jobs bring thousands of migrants to a city like Ciudad Juarez, hoping for a better future, living in shanty-towns and becoming a very easy target for crimes.
