Article link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41926222

This article titled ‘A way of healing’: Art and memory in Latin America describes the tragedies resulting from war and political unrest in Guatemala and Chile. Both countries experienced violence against indigenous peoples and minorities in the late 1900’s, and are still recovering from the effects of genocide and racism. The article for a period follows Amanda Jara, and her mission to have the Chilean soccer stadium named after her father, political singer and songwriter, Victoria Jara. Amanda Jara notes that her father was the first victim to be killed as a result of the military coup in Chile. The article also discusses the Mayan theatre group, Mujeres Ajchowen, an all-female group performing contemporary renditions of traditional mayan stories and motifs. The group’s aim is to reanimate lost mayan practices and traditions that were forgotten as casualties of the Guatemalan civil war. The article concludes with the message that art does not redefine the past they attempt to remember from a specific perspective, and that the aggressors remain unaffected, while the missing remain lost.

This article, and art in general, heavily associate with our class themes of identity and encounters. The art movements mentioned in this article outline the catastrophic, recent history of Guatemala and Chile. The strong identities of the people of these countries is displayed through their resiliency to bounce back after such attacks on their liberty as people. These horrific encounters in both country’s pasts directly correlate with the identity of their citizens as they shaped their morals and will to stand against oppression.

Likewise with most articles from BBC, the Latin American people are shown as resilient in times when their oppressive government tries their mental strength and endurance. Despite fatal blows to minority communities such as the Mayans in Guatemala, these people are still able to take an uplifting stance on tragedy, translating messages of positivity from hostile government corruption.