Breaking the silence – Innovative narratives raise the visibility of enforced disappearance victims
Técnicas Rudas, with the support of DW Akademie, promotes the project Narratives and Memories of Disappearance to destigmatize the families of victims of enforced disappearance in Mexico.
On the move and creating awareness
The project “Narratives and Memories of Disappearance in Mexico”, by Técnicas Rudas and DW Akademie, travels around the country with an exhibition that presents artistic works while offering workshops and talks. These portraits show people searching using photographs of their loved ones. The victims of this kind of violence are not only the disappeared, but everyone who remains in uncertainty.
Rhymes for the missing
María del Pilar Ramos reads her poem in the room of her disappeared son Ángel Jaret Ramos. As part of the Técnicas Rudas workshops, poet Judith Santoprieto guided and supported Ramos and seven other women to tell their stories and experiences of searching for missing family members through narratives and poetry.
Drawing what cannot be said
Empathy is what brings people together – and what is often denied to relatives of disappeared people. A group of plastic artists from different parts of Mexico created eight posters in which they tried to express what could not be expressed in words. It served as the stage background for a concert from Carcará (middle), one of the musicians who collaborate with Técnicas Rudas.
Uniting in the face of stigmatization
Engaging civil society is key to raising awareness and putting pressure on the authorities. For this reason, the Expo Rodante de Técnicas Rudas also organized a collective poster exhibition. It is the result of a public call that invited anyone who wanted to participate, without distinction, to generate visual materials to make forced disappearance visible.
The search echoed through microphones
Mare Advertencia Lirika, Mexican rapper, social activist and feminist, is part of the cast of artists collaborating with the project “Narratives and Memories of Disappearance in Mexico” by Técnicas Rudas. The artist adds to the cause with songs that address the physical and emotional impact of loss and calls for justice. "Wanted!" she says with the power of her voice.
A metaphor that helps healing
Actors perform a theater play as part of the traveling exhibition. Written by actress and playwright Verónica Maldonado, it is a metaphor to explain to the youngest family members the absence of the disappeared: they do not leave of their own free will, nor is it known if they are still alive. To write it, Maldonado lived with the families and accompanied them on their searches for loved ones.
Collective embroidery: A cushion for pain
Embroidery, a common activity for millions of women around the world, becomes a tool to make visible and denounce forced disappearances. The collective embroideries are a form of expression accessible to all people who are searching for their loved ones. They serve as a joint exercise to help cushion the pain.
Representing their deepest feelings
Actress and textile artist Sandra Reyes enabled family members searching for their missing loved ones, like Rosalba Rojas (pictured), to channel their pain through the creation of a doll. The item represents their own image or that of the missing person, to which they can add anything, from personal objects to messages of hope and love.
Art to demand accountability
Bruno, the brother of Mexican performance artist and anthropologist Lukas Avendaño (right), disappeared in 2018 and was found dead in 2020. Through artistic interventions, Lukas has denounced the inaction of the authorities and demanded from public servants an end to impunity in the face of these crimes. He also plays an important role in accompanying searching families.
From marginalization to recognition
These diverse artistic expressions are compiled in a book that shares its name with the project. It is a collection of new ways of narrating pain and suffering, but also hope and courage based on empathy and solidarity. The work places the victims and their families at the center, in the hopes of replacing a stigmatizing discourse with the search for justice.
On the move and creating awareness
The project “Narratives and Memories of Disappearance in Mexico”, by Técnicas Rudas and DW Akademie, travels around the country with an exhibition that presents artistic works while offering workshops and talks. These portraits show people searching using photographs of their loved ones. The victims of this kind of violence are not only the disappeared, but everyone who remains in uncertainty.
Rhymes for the missing
María del Pilar Ramos reads her poem in the room of her disappeared son Ángel Jaret Ramos. As part of the Técnicas Rudas workshops, poet Judith Santoprieto guided and supported Ramos and seven other women to tell their stories and experiences of searching for missing family members through narratives and poetry.
Drawing what cannot be said
Empathy is what brings people together – and what is often denied to relatives of disappeared people. A group of plastic artists from different parts of Mexico created eight posters in which they tried to express what could not be expressed in words. It served as the stage background for a concert from Carcará (middle), one of the musicians who collaborate with Técnicas Rudas.
Uniting in the face of stigmatization
Engaging civil society is key to raising awareness and putting pressure on the authorities. For this reason, the Expo Rodante de Técnicas Rudas also organized a collective poster exhibition. It is the result of a public call that invited anyone who wanted to participate, without distinction, to generate visual materials to make forced disappearance visible.
The search echoed through microphones
Mare Advertencia Lirika, Mexican rapper, social activist and feminist, is part of the cast of artists collaborating with the project “Narratives and Memories of Disappearance in Mexico” by Técnicas Rudas. The artist adds to the cause with songs that address the physical and emotional impact of loss and calls for justice. "Wanted!" she says with the power of her voice.
A metaphor that helps healing
Actors perform a theater play as part of the traveling exhibition. Written by actress and playwright Verónica Maldonado, it is a metaphor to explain to the youngest family members the absence of the disappeared: they do not leave of their own free will, nor is it known if they are still alive. To write it, Maldonado lived with the families and accompanied them on their searches for loved ones.
Collective embroidery: A cushion for pain
Embroidery, a common activity for millions of women around the world, becomes a tool to make visible and denounce forced disappearances. The collective embroideries are a form of expression accessible to all people who are searching for their loved ones. They serve as a joint exercise to help cushion the pain.
Representing their deepest feelings
Actress and textile artist Sandra Reyes enabled family members searching for their missing loved ones, like Rosalba Rojas (pictured), to channel their pain through the creation of a doll. The item represents their own image or that of the missing person, to which they can add anything, from personal objects to messages of hope and love.
Art to demand accountability
Bruno, the brother of Mexican performance artist and anthropologist Lukas Avendaño (right), disappeared in 2018 and was found dead in 2020. Through artistic interventions, Lukas has denounced the inaction of the authorities and demanded from public servants an end to impunity in the face of these crimes. He also plays an important role in accompanying searching families.
From marginalization to recognition
These diverse artistic expressions are compiled in a book that shares its name with the project. It is a collection of new ways of narrating pain and suffering, but also hope and courage based on empathy and solidarity. The work places the victims and their families at the center, in the hopes of replacing a stigmatizing discourse with the search for justice.