Opening the exhibition we find Darryl Richardson’s video Jus Soli, Latin for ‘the right of the soil’, a single-channel work filmed in the Afro-Mexican community of Santiago Tapextla, Oaxaca, where he bears witness to one of the most vital and complex cultural rituals of Afromestizo heritage: La Danza de los Diablos.  



Traditionally performed by men during the festivities of Dia de los Muertos, this ritual emerged as an act of resistance among enslaved Africans and Afro-mestizos who invoked the deity Ruja for liberation. The dancers wear handmade masks with long horsehair beards and tattered garments. The group is led by a “Diablo Mayor” and “La Minga”, a man dressed in women’s clothing that represents the wife of a plantation overseer. The meaning of the devils has transformed across generations. In some interpretations, they are seen as the returning spirits of passed relatives that visit their family altars. In others, they serve as guardians, preventing the deceased from crossing into the world of the living with malice intention.  



Despite their historical marginalization, Afromestizo communities in Mexico celebrate the depth and richness of their cultural heritage. Jus Soli, affirms their visibility, offering a nuanced perspective of their rituals as a form of political resistance. 



Texts from Darryl:



JUS SOLI :the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship



In ‘JUS SOLI’, an experimental essay-film, vignettes from Costa Chica Oaxaca intricately compose a poetic exploration of Afro-Mexican identity. Through a meditative exploration, the film navigates the nuanced history, enduring resilience, and contemporary narratives of this overlooked community. ‘JUS SOLI’ stands as a lyrical ode, seamlessly integrating thoughts, images, and scenes into a mosaic that vividly encapsulates the essence of a people deeply rooted in the pulse of a nation.



JUS SOLI is a multidisciplinary project exploring Afro-Mexican identity within the coastal communities of Costa Chica, Oaxaca. As a group, Afro-Mexicans are largely invisible. In Mexico there are currently 1.4 million people that identify as Afro-descendant. The coastal region of Costa Chica (southern part of Guerrero and northern part of Oaxaca) currently has the largest population of Afro-descendants in Mexico. Mexico's constitution is the only one in Latin America that does not specifically mention citizens of African descent. In 2015, for the very first time, the Mexican government included its Afro-descendants in a national survey. The survey served as a preliminary count before the 2020 national census, where "black" debuted as an official category for the first time. Constitutional recognition will hopefully give Afro-descendants access to educational grants, medical services, and social security benefits.



Upon moving to Mexico in 2018 Richardson learned about the often unacknowledged historical presence of African descendants in Mexico. The project, Jus Soli which translates to; right of the soil, concentrates on the Afro-Mexican community living in Costa Chica (Oaxaca) leading up to the census of 2020. This specific census was of historical significance as it was the first one (after the interim census in 2015) to acknowledge those of Afro-Mexican descent on the forms. In Mexico, census data are used as input for the distribution of economic resources to states and municipalities. Therefore the 2020 census communicates a promise for implementation of policies that extend to the needs of those of Afro-Mexican descent. Richardson captured ways in which the community of Costa Chica navigates the duality of their African descent within the Mexican socio-political context. In the first installment of the project he explores the duality between being both present (on a social level), though absent (on a political level). This juxtaposition nearly renders the subjects as invisible. Richardson plays with this idea of invisibility in his vignettes. He considers the discrepancy between those two states a fundamental part of Blackness.