Desaparecidos, remembered

1975
Omar Darío Amestoy
Mario Alfredo Amestoy

1975
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Mario Alfredo Amestoy

Up to 30,000 people disappeared during the period of dictatorship in Argentina, lasting from 1976 to 1983. The desaparecidos, as they are commonly called (the dictator General Videla infamously said they were "neither alive or dead, but disappeared"), are still a tense and emotional topic in Argentina.

After the dictatorship fell out of power, the new democratic government introduced what they called the Ley de Punto Final, which impeded any attempts of legally pursuing the lower-level executioners of the Dirty War - thus, granting them impunity. The law of the Punto Final was voided by the Supreme Court of Argentina in 2005.

The majority of the desaparecidos still remain missing. The photographic project Ausencias ("Absences", 2007) by Gustavo Germano explores the impact of those who went missing. The people who vanish from one photo to the next are true desaparecidos. Those left behind become the documentation of their absence.

1973

Andrés Servín
Raúl María Caire
Luisa Inés Rodríguez

1973

Andrés Servín
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Luisa Inés Rodríguez

Himno a la bandera Argentina - "Aurora"

Is there a darker national anthem in this world? Something haunting and suffocating lurks in Aurora. Have a listen.

A Argentina, te amo!

"The Parthenon of Books/Homage to Democracy, Buenos Aires," detail (December 1983) by Marta Minujín

In December 1983 the Argentine Conceptual artist Marta Minujin and a group of helpers spent 17 days building a full-scale model of the Parthenon in a public park in Buenos Aires, Roberta Smith writes. Except for a metal scaffolding, it was made almost entirely of books wrapped in plastic. All the books had been banned by one of the most oppressive juntas in the country’s history, which was just being dismantled after Argentina’s first democratic election in a decade. “The Parthenon of Books/Homage to Democracy,” as Ms. Minujin’s work was titled, stood for about three weeks. Then the public was allowed to disassemble the piece and keep the books.

Argentine Street Art

"My hunger is your fashion. The reality is in the streets." I think the wallpaper in the back is of ex-President Carlos Menem

Ever walked the streets of Buenos Aires? Amongst imposing Parisian-styled buildings & splotches of dog poop you'll encounter stencils and graffiti all over the city's walls. "Palais de Glace" held an exhibition of that focused on Argentine street art, and you can see all the works here. The exhibition was titled "Ficus Repens" which is a "creeping/climbing fig" plant that Argentines usually refer to as "the wall lover," hence the relationship to mural/graffiti art. I've posted my favorites below...

"Bolche & Gabbana" (Bolche being a local nickname for bolsheviks)

The following are photographs of street art existing publicly and interacting with their environments as they are designed to do. This photographer literally makes the act of observation, or in many cases dismissal, of everyday art his focus and really highlights how alive, accessible and dynamic such works are.

Note the dog - they are everywhere in BA!