Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1972, develops work that interweaves the post-colonial world, ethnography, and theater to create films, videos, installations, and sound experiences. Her artistic practice focuses on anarchist communities, the relationship between art and labor, and post-military territories, exploring how narrative and improvisation shape the understanding of history and identity. Interaction with non-actors, subversion of narrative conventions, and constructing a decolonized imaginary are central elements of her work.
The relationship between Santiago Muñoz’s production and digital colonialism is established through her critical approach to representation and cultural appropriation. Her works question how the Caribbean is visually framed by external perspectives and how this reinforces stereotypes. In the digital environment, a similar dynamic is observed when technological platforms homogenize and commodify local cultures, erasing historical and identity nuances.
Subjectivity and local narratives, key aspects of the artist’s work, can be interpreted as resistance to the imposition of dominant global narratives promoted by large digital corporations. The choice to work with non-actors and emphasize community experiences reinforces the need to give voice to those often marginalized both in physical and digital spaces.
The exploration of post-military spaces and power infrastructures in Puerto Rico, a recurring theme in her production, also resonates with contemporary forms of surveillance and control exercised through digital technology. Digital colonialism can be perceived in the expansion of technological infrastructure in marginalized communities, often accompanied by data extraction and online behavior manipulation.
Eurocentric narratives of progress and development, widely criticized in Santiago Muñoz’s work, parallel the belief that technology represents unquestionable advancement. The imposition of technological solutions without considering local cultural and social dynamics reinforces inequalities and digital subordination.
Experimentation with language and the subversion of narrative structures in the artist’s work suggest strategies of resistance to digital colonialism. The fragmentation and reinterpretation of stories can be seen as ways to deconstruct the discursive hegemony imposed by digital media.
The decolonization of the imaginary is one of the fundamental axes of Santiago Muñoz’s work. The articulation of alternative ways of seeing and living in the Caribbean echoes efforts to build digital spaces that escape the logic of control and commodification.
Participation in Beta-Local, an organization focused on experimental pedagogies, highlights her commitment to collaborative processes. This approach can also be associated with initiatives aimed at constructing alternatives to digital colonialism, promoting critical and creative use of technology.
Beatriz Santiago Muñoz’s work, therefore, offers conceptual and aesthetic tools to problematize contemporary power structures, including those manifested in the digital realm. Her artistic practice inspires reflections on forms of resistance and creates possibilities for inhabiting technology in a decolonized manner.