Tijuana Projection, 2001

After a two-year process, Krzysztof Wodiczko’s project culminated in two evenings of projections on the sixty-foot-diameter façade of the Omnimax Theater at the Centro Cultural Tijuana. Known for his large-scale outdoor projections, with ‘Tijuana Projection’/ ’Proyección en Tijuana’ Wodiczko wanted to use technology new at the time to give voice and visibility to women working in the maquiladora industry in Tijuana. The projections consisted of prerecorded materials interspersed with live feeds from a headset with an integrated camera and microphone designed by the artist’s students at MIT and worn by the participating women. This was Wodiczko’s first time creating a projection incorporating live segments, adding a certain immediacy and potency to the presentation of these personal accounts.

In preparation for the projection, the artist conducted nearly one year of workshops with eight participating women. His work with these eight women was facilitated through two organizations based in Tijuana, Factor X and Yeuani, that were dedicated to helping women facing difficulties in the workplace or at home. The prerecorded and live personal testimonies given by the eight women focused on work-related and sexual abuse, family disintegration, alcoholism, and domestic violence. The scale at which these stories were heard and witnessed on an iconic building in the heart of the city, by an audience of more than 1,500 in the plaza of the Centro Cultural over the two nights, literally gave voice to the women and magnified issues that are often never spoken about. The projections took place February 23 and 24, 2001.

Curators: Susan Buck-Morss, Ivo Mesquita, Osvaldo Sánchez, and Sally Yard
Venue: Centro Cultural Tijuana