When in 1994 the world discovered the indigenous uprising in Chiapas, one of Mexico’s poorest states, few realized that this was a new and permanent form of struggle that quickly became emblematic of the alter-globalization movement, which testifies to Mat Jacob’s objective.
This work continued for twenty years, documenting with empathy and accuracy the formidable epic of a revolt that purports to be non-violent and proposes self-management and solidarity of autonomous communities rather than access to formal power. Both culturally and politically, the Zapatista movement, led by the enigmatic Subcomandante Marcos, enjoys enduring national popularity and international recognition that affirms its influence. These photographs tell of the dignity and determination of the men and women who are writing a new chapter in the long and fascinating history of liberation struggles.
Thirty years after the uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), the Museo Amparo presents Mat Jacob’s work from 1995 to 2013. From his encounter with the inhabitants of the village of Guadalupe Trinidad, in the heart of the Lacandon jungle, Jacob took the matrix for his work on this movement of insubordination. Over two decades and seven trips, he operates a documentary back and forth between the events of the political transition that brings with it the struggle, and the life of this community, its forms of democratic participation and the ways of claiming an indigenous and peasant identity.
