Blog Post 9 - Chicana Futurism

Reading "Tradition, Technology and the Chicana futurist art of Marion C. Martinez "by Catherine Ramirez, I was baffled and intrigued to learn about the term, Chicanafuturism. Moreover, learning about the term, what it exemplified, and what it portrays is something that I think implemented a substantial stepping stone to the Chicana community. As Martinez defines the term, Chicanfuturism expresses "chicano cultural production that attends to cultural transformations resulting from new and everyday technologies... that excavate, create and alter narratives of identity, technology, and the future…”. Looking at these art pieces, it amazes me to see how 20th century technology is incorporated with the traditional styles of Chicana art. Something that also intrigued me is the fact that chicanafuturism has been around society for quite some time. Specifically, in an interview with Martinzed, she expressed that she incorporated the concept of chicanafuturism within her artwork for the past fifteen years of her life. Stepping away from the idea of incorporating technology into art, chicanafuturism plays more of a meaningful message than people think it does. As the article continues, something that I found super irrational was the fact that not only black individuals, but chicancos were prohibited from technology and science. This shocked me because as an individual who originates from Syria, we too were kept out from the modernism and evolution of technology and science. I can specifically recall a time when I visited Syria back in 2010. Comparing Syria to the country we all live in, the people of Syria don't have easy access to health and science. Moreover, RnD for the evolution of Science was severely limited. So, with that being said, I can empathize not only with Chicanos, but also with everyone who don’t have it easy.