Exhibit Taken Down After Maquila Execs Protest
by Julie Light, Special to CorpWatch
April 29th, 1999
A maquiladora worker wearing a Halloween mask to hide his face for fear of reprisal from the company. Credit: Fred Lonidier
SAN DIEGO -- It wasn't just the politically provocative photographs that got Fred Lonidier's exhibit at Tijuana's public university taken down. It was the fact that he had the audacity to leaflet maquiladora workers outside the factory gates and invite them to the gallery that got his show yanked. University administrators received angry complaints from maquiladora industry executives demanding that the show come down. And it did in early April, less than three weeks after it went up.
The cancelled exhibit by the University of California at San Diego visual arts professor featured 17 photo and text panels lambasting the North American Free Trade Agreement and depicting conditions for maquiladora workers. One panel reads 'A Free Trade Agreement that is not fair to all,' while others depict outspoken factory workers wearing Halloween masks to prevent them from being identified by their bosses....
