Paradoxes of Plenty #37

The series of works on paper entitled Paradossi dell’Abbondanza (Paradoxes of Plenty), begun by Marzia Migliora in 2017 – explores the imagery that developed in the 20th century around the industrialisation of agriculture and livestock farming on a global scale, starting from the relationship between humans and the earth, which has always been based on food production thanks to the work of farmers, and aims to highlight the interdependence of the increasingly precarious balance between humankind, the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. Paradoxes of Plenty #37 pays tribute to women farmers, whose essential work has often been invisible. The work shows female figures carrying baskets, agricultural crops, water, and food on their heads (this practice was widespread in Italy until the post-war period and is still present in many rural areas of the world), in stark contrast to advertising images in which food becomes a mere commodity, emptied of its connection to the land and those who produce it. These women, guardians of seeds and agricultural knowledge handed down orally and through daily practice, take on the burden of continuity, like the caryatids of ancient Greece — sculpted female figures who supported architectural structures with their bodies — becoming pillars of a system based on care and relationship with the land.