Anapra

The border between Mexico and the United States is shaped not only by economic and political interactions at various levels, but also by social and cultural processes that seem to subvert its limits. Border dynamics reflect the contrast between two cultural presences on the continent—Anglo-American and Latin American—and give rise to a complex binational relationship marked by constant crossings, permissions, and prohibitions.

In Anapra, a neighborhood in Ciudad Juárez adjacent to Sunland Park, New Mexico, artist Mayra Martell uses audiovisual documentation to explore themes such as femicide, the disappearance of women, migration, human trafficking, and drug violence. Her work constructs a cartography of a hostile territory, observed and recorded over the course of 20 years, exposing a landscape analyzed through the political and social conditions of border communities.

This project proposes a living map, gradually revealed through long-term observation, and through the documentation of time, political shifts, and social events unfolding between Mexico and the United States.