Visual Utopias: Performing Digital Archives in the Colombian Pacific

• In Event: Embodied Knowledges: Politics, Performance, and World-Making in Latin America

Abstract

In Colombia’s post-conflict context, which has yet to materialize, the creation and publication of digital memories has been essential for official and unofficial memories. But, is the proliferation of digital archives democratic in spaces where not even electricity is reliable? This paper interrogates the decolonizing potential associated with digital platforms: (1) the community website Memorias del Atrato and (2) the Instagram account Fotógrafas del Pacífico. These collective digital repositories perform an alternative visual representation of the Colombian Pacific that highlights afro-centric spaces and memories. I will argue that, while visual memories question the prevalence of writing and create digital archives, their main value resides on the construction of utopias, as community-based decolonizing projects.

Author

• Tania Lizarazo, University of Maryland, Baltimore County