Miami, Florida – The 22nd edition of Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 opens on December 6. With more than 286 galleries spread across six sections, the fair reaffirms its position as one of the main platforms in the market where proposals from Europe, Asia, the United States and Latin America characteristically converge.

Art Basel Miami is held in a city that some insist on calling the “capital of Latin America.” Despite this delirium, it cannot be denied that it has been a key city for the global projection of art in the region. This year, with two-thirds of its galleries coming from the American continent, the fair reiterates its commitment to the market around artistic practices from the South. However, for many agents of contemporary Latin American and Caribbean art, it is surprising and outrageous that this year Chiquita Brands International, heir to the United Fruit Company, which carries a legacy of labor exploitation, environmental damage and violence that marked Latin America during the 20th century, joins as an official sponsor.

Luis Camnitzer, “Banana Flag”, 2018-2020. Flag, pigment dye transfer print (double-sided) on 250 gram double-sided Poly-Opti-Premium fabric; 118.5 x 199.5 cm. Image via Banana Craze

Chiquita Brands International is the company behind the Banana Massacre in 1928 and played a strategic role in the coup against Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954. Recently, the company was convicted in the United States, in the same state where the fair is held, being declared responsible for the murders committed by a paramilitary group in Colombia that was on its payroll. The alliance with a fair as prestigious as Art Basel seems like an attempt at art washing : a strategy to improve its image through culture.

The cynical habit of the art system: art washing

According to a press release, during the fair, Chiquita “will pay homage to the role of the banana in art by engaging attendees through vibrant banana tasting carts in the Botanical Garden and North Lobby. Visitors will be able to enjoy Chiquita and collect limited edition “Art Basel in Miami Beach Blue Stickers,” which will only be available at the event. Additionally, fans will be able to meet Miss Chiquita and have the chance to win exclusive prizes such as vintage Chiquita handbags, unique scarves, and water bottles.” With positive, dynamic, and celebratory language, Chiquita seeks to do art washing , completely ignoring the critical legacy surrounding her figure in Latin American art.

As journalist Reena Davi analyses, there is an urgent need to examine the impact that public relations (PR) in contemporary art has on the manipulation of facts and narratives, specifically in terms of whitewashing socio-political and environmental issues in order to shape positive perceptions to protect corporate or state interests. This is commonly known as art washing .

Adriana Martínez, “Tutti Frutti Market”, 2016-2018. Installation, plastic fruits with stickers, baskets and table; variable dimensions. Image via La fiebre del banano/Banana Craze

In the art world, PR has facilitated artwashing that enables opaque practices that perpetuate social inequalities and benefit powerful elites. Cases such as that of the Sackler family and their connection to the opioid crisis or the links between MoMA patrons and the arms industry in support of Israel, illustrate how art institutions cynically act in silence while receiving toxic funds. Although some have broken ties with these corrupt funds, the impact of artwashing through PR continues to shape narratives in favor of the most influential, limiting debate and transparency.

Devi points out that artwashing promotes a culture of manipulation and self-censorship, perpetuating a pact of silence that restricts diversity and critical thinking in sectors such as the arts. In a context of global crises such as genocide, the climate crisis and disinformation, she emphasizes the need for a firm commitment to truth and critical reflection as essential tools to face contemporary challenges.

The banana from art in Latin America: a space of memory and resistance

The banana, far from being a mere pop object, has historically been reinterpreted by a wide variety of Latin American artists as an aesthetic space for denouncing, demonstrating and testifying to the imperialist impact in the region. This is evidenced by the research La fiebre del banano/Banana Craze , a project by art historians Juanita Solano Roa and Blanca Serrano Ortiz de Solórzano, who did not hesitate to denounce the incongruity of having Chiquita Banana as the official sponsor of Art Basel Miami Beach 2024.

In their opinion column published on November 30 in the independent Colombian media La Silla Vacía , Solano Roa and Serrano Ortiz remind us not to abandon a critical perspective and to question the attempt at art washing that the collaboration between Chiquita Banana and Art Basel represents. Their opinion takes into account the ethical importance of honoring the history of art around practices that reflect on agricultural exploitation, environmental devastation, labor struggles against abuse and mistreatment, anti-racist movements and the rejection of imperialism in Latin America that Chiquita Banana represents, realities that find in the symbol of the banana a space of memory and resistance.

Milko Delgado, “Conceptual notes on banana extractivism in Barú”, 2023. Installation of variable dimensions and video-performance of 7’31”. Image via La fiebre del banano/Banana Craze

Her research, which organizes more than 100 works around the triad of axes of Violence, Ecosystems and Identities, then becomes relevant as a critical tool from art to avoid being forgotten through works by artists such as José Alejandro Restrepo, Doris Salcedo, Leandro Katz, Minerva Cuevas, Alberto Baraya, Gabriela Bettini, Victoria Cabezas, Miko Delgado and many others.

As they say: It is important to denounce Chiquita’s practice of art-washing and Art Basel’s complacency with the company, and to call on all fair-goers (experts and fans, participants and guests) to ignore Chiquita’s advertising campaign at various stands at the Miami fairgrounds and pay attention to Latin American art and artists—whose work not only thrives against all odds despite the Anglo-Saxon dominance of the art market, but also often displays a critical spirit in defense of the most just causes.

The alliance between Chiquita and Art Basel not only reveals the attempts of corporations to redeem their image, but also recalls urgent questions about the relationship between art, the market and ethics. As long as the banana remains the subject of critical reflection, its history will far from disappear behind the glossy publicity of fairs and companies.

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We thank Benedicta M. Badia for insisting, reminding and providing references to make this case visible.