Melanie Smith’s new film Maria Elena is part of the 10th Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art - Beautiful world, where are you?, which opens on July 14 and will be on view through October 28, 2018.
The film takes its title from a town situated in the Atacama Desert, South America; one of the world’s driest deserts. The settlement is connected to the oldest salt mine in Chile, which was owned by the Guggenheim family in the 1920s. The film combines fragmented narratives of the colonial past with the dusty present of the salt mine. It further explores Smith’s interest in industrial expansion in the Americas during the 20th century and its relationship to violence and crime. Click here to learn more.