Meaning “a young white ash/earth,” Tierra Blanca Joven evokes an intergenerational experience of displacement from El Salvador: from the fifth century C.E., when the Tierra Blanca Joven volcano eruption forced the Maya people from the region by depositing a thick layer of ash over the land, to Maravilla’s own migration as a result of the 1979–92 civil war and to child refugees today, who have fled the country’s growing violence and are currently being held in U.S. detention centers. The artist’s selection of Maya works from the Museum’s collection further links Maya communal healing with displacement across time.

Creative Director: Adam O’Reilly
Exhibition Design: Joachim Hackl
Curator: Eugenie Tsai 
Project Manager: Esther Woo
Photographer: Danny Perez