Henrique Tarlé

The series Uma Dúzia e Meia is part of a larger project on bananas entitled Yes! Nos Temos by Brazilian artist Henrique Tarlé. In this series, the artist drew 18 bananas that individually represent a stage in the fruit’s ripening. From the greenest to the black and rotten, each banana bears an original Chiquita Brands company label in the center. This company, heir to the infamous United Fruit Company, is today one of the largest banana companies in the world. The socio-environmental impact of massive banana cultivation is enormous: from the large amounts of land and water needed to cultivate it to the use of pesticides that affect the health of workers on the plantations, among others. In this series, Tarlé highlights the relationship between the negative consequences of banana monoculture in Latin America, especially those of the Chiquita Brands company, and the fruit life cycle.