Patricia Vázquez Gómez has spent six years engaging Mayan youth and families in Oregon, exploring the challenges faced by the Yucatec Mayan language, especially with migration complicating its preservation. Her latest exhibit, ja' / buuts' / t'aan at PICA, incorporates video and audio from the Yucatan and local children practicing Yucatec Mayan. While she refrains from claiming to address language preservation, Vázquez Gómez aims to highlight localized remedies amidst social and cultural disconnection. She reflects on her background and desire to reconnect with Indigenous languages through her artistic endeavors, rooted in her heritage.
I don't think that the project is addressing the preservation of languages. It's a huge thing that I don't have the skills or capacity to tackle.
When I organized with the immigrant and labor rights movement, I worked with a lot of Indigenous languages speakers from Mexico and Guatemala.
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