Marilyn Boror Bor

Edicto Cambio De Nombre, 2018

 In 2018, Marilyn Elany Boror requested to change her name to Marilyn Elany Castillo Novella, replacing her indigenous surname with the name of two of Guatemala’s wealthiest families. This act resulted from her research on the social practice of name change in her country: people with indigenous surnames often change them when they move to big cities, especially the capital, to escape discrimination and racism. Boror’s name change went viral and was the subject of controversy on social networks. The granite slab, engraved with his name change and placed on the floor, is like a tombstone or commemorative plaque that keeps the memory of his indigenous surname alive in a space of mourning. [Adapted from “This might be a place for hummingbirds”: Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, 16.11.19-05.02.20.] 

* On 15 May, the collective VOCES de Guatemala en Berlín will carry this piece in procession between the nGbK and a collective cemetery and vegetable garden, cultivated by VOCES de Guatemala en Berlin in Neukölln, Berlin.

Marilyn Boror Bor / San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, 1984

Lives and works in Guatemala. Maya-Kaqchikel artist from San Juan Sacatepequez Guatemala, works in multiple media including photography, painting, printmaking, installation and performance. Her work has been presented in spaces such as Galerie im körnerpark Berlin Germany; Whitebox Munich, Germany; Sur Gallery, Toronto Canada; Galeria Muy, Mexico, Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno Carlos Mérida de Guatemala; Museo Ixchel, Guatemala; Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, California; Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y el Espacio Venezuela; Centro Cultural de España de Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Centro Cultural Municipal AAI, Guatemala; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, El Salvador; Museo de Arqueología y Etnología de Guatemala; The 9. 99 Gallery Guatemala; Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporáneo NUMU, Guatemala among others.

Winner of the Yaxs Artistic Research Grant 2017-2018; artist selected to participate in the XIX, XX and XXII Biennial of Art Paiz -Trans/visible-, -Ordinario-Extraordinario- and -Perdidos.En Medio.Juntos-, Guatemala 2014 and 2016 and 2021; the Biennial of the South “Pueblos en Resistencia” Caracas, Venezuela and the International Festival of the Arts FIA, Costa Rica.

https://marilynboror.com/