Art and/in Conflict: Representations of the Juárez Femicides in European Installations

• In Event: Latin American Women's Memories and Struggles

Abstract

The body of creative and yet political visual works raising awareness and claiming retribution for the Juarez murders has been constant since they were first denounced. In the majority of cases, academic interest has focused on cinema, paintings, photography, and performance produced on the Mexican or the U.S. side of the border. This work studies transnational artistic pieces either produced by European artists and/or first exhibited in Europe. The main focus of this paper will be the representation of, and the spectator’s engagement with, feelings of mourning and remembrance as well as the postmodern understanding of human waste and systemic violence in the following pieces: Selected installations (2006-ongoing) by the Norwegian artist Lise Bjorne Linnert, selected paintings (2009-onwards) by Irish artist Brian Maguire, and ‘La ciutat condemnada i el desert maleït’(2008) by Spanish/Catalan artist Teresa Puig.

While European art presents the same political objectives as in Mexican or U.S.-based one, this paper will question the representational challenges faced by the artists in order to communicate the message to transnational seers. Given that the viewers/participants are – at least, in theory – far removed from the events, it will question whether introduction of transatlantic audiences produces further complications in relation to the different cultural understandings of gendered violence. It will also discuss the consequences brought about by the transformation of the Juárez femicides into a universal trope for gender-based murders, partially erasing the geopolitical conditions which have been conducive to their appearance and their perpetuation.

Author

• Francisca Sánchez-Ortiz, Manchester Metropolitan University