Two monitors, video, and 500 grasshoppers made of grass.
For over a decade, Costa Rica has experienced a massive arrival of Nicaraguan people. They come here looking for better conditions, both financial and social. Costa Ricans either tolerate or hate them. This resolves itself in discrimination.
In the year 2006, I was invited to participate in a show with artists from Cataluña here in Costa Rica. Artists from Nicaragua were also invited. The show was christened “Pejivalle pal vigorón”. I was given 500 US dollars to finance my proposal.
Driving one day, I came across one of the many kids that sell these curious “grasshoppers” craftily made out of grass. I knew they were 100% Nicaraguan, as I had never seen them before their massive arrival. They came along with the “Nicas”. I offered the kid a deal: I was going to need 500 of those leafy creatures and gave him $250 in advance. Grasshopper in spanish is “saltamontes”, which means “to jump over mountains”, exactly the way most Nicaraguans enter the Costa Rican border; walking over the mountains.
I made two videos: I filmed Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica, and asked them one question: Do you know who Juan Santamaría (Costa Rica’s national hero) is? and for the local Costa Ricans, I asked if they knew the name of the Nicaraguan national hero. The piece would be completed with the 500 grasshoppers I had ordered from an (unknown) kid on the street. When I told everyone I had given him a cash advance, almost everybody sighed and told me I would never see either the 500 grasshoppers, the money, or the kid again.
My piece is a testimony of this kid’s will and sense of artistry. Also, he came to the opening with 8 of his family members.
By the way, no Nicaraguan I asked knew who Juan Santamaría was. By the same token, no Costa Rican was able to come up with the name of the Nicaraguan national hero. (clue: is not Sandino)
