404
Sorry - Page Not Found!
The page you are looking for was moved, removed, renamed
or might never existed. You stumbled upon a broken link :
Final Report (PDF link)
Photographic Montage Project (PDF link)
Please click on the PDF links to see Alayna's beautifully formatted report and
photos. The text is reproduced below without photos, but does not do her
remarkable work justice.
COLLECTIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY OF THE SURVIVING ACHI'S
Introduction
Background
The project Collective Photographic Memory of the Surviving Achi's, was created
to collaborate with the remaining survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict, in
the geographical location of Rabinal, Guatemala. During the civil war over
250,000 people were killed or disappeared, the war lasted from the 1950's to
1996 and concluded with the signing of the Peace Accords. This project aimed to
investigate the inner workings of the massacres that occurred during the
bloodiest years of the conflict (1980-1983). We worked with 108 families in the
town of Rabinal during a 9 month term, in attempt to construct a cohesive
collective memory of the peace building practices within the local political
leaders and indigenous population. Alayna Wool collaborated with the Association
of Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) and carried out the research which is
out-lined within these pages. The basis of the project was rescuing photographs
that have not been seen by family members in over 28 years, this reunion
fostered a sense of relief and hope within the people that peace will be
obtained. A public display of this content within the town, demonstrates that
truth has been revealed to secure an ideology of 'no repetition'. This
information is based on firsthand accounts and witnesses who participated in
the project, in an attempt to construct a community consciousness of their
past, with intent to reiterate the necessity of justice and reconciliation by
seeking to create peace within this region.
Geographical Description
Rabinal lies in the valley of Urram, about four and a half hours north of
Guatemala City, in the department of Baja Verapaz. The center of town is
surrounded by mountains on 360 degrees, where villages are located, this is
where our work took precedence. The population is about 36,000 people and the
land covers about 504 square kilometers. Rabinal is a very temperate, dry
climate, during the months of May through November, their is a rainy season
which brings heavy rains for the crops and the milpa a corn, squash and bean
combination grown. During the holiday season a cold spell usually comes through
and for the rest of the year it is quite sweltering. Due to the construction of
adobe houses, an all natural construction of mud and straw, the people are able
to stay cool in the heat of the day.
We worked within seven communities, which were the most affected during the
civil war, you can see red arrows pointing to them on the map at the right.
These are the communities where we concentrated our work and the tiny green spot
in the middle is the town center of Rabinal. On average, a community takes 40
minutes to reach in the back of a pickup truck, the easiest way to get around.
Phase I
Project Development
The project proposal outlined the work which was created on behalf of the
survivors needs. To adhere to the integrity of the work we facilitated workshops
to hear the peoples voices, what their observations were, in order to complete
the work in a way which was 100% beneficial to their needs. Many believe, that
the wars initiation was in great part due to the interven-tion of the interest
of the United States and the United Fruit Company. The interaction of a
foreigner's role in the project brings many benefits to the arena, however,
great sensitivity of the content is necessary to adhere to, for the success of
the project. Thus as the project developed, we were always guided by the needs
of the community, creating a body of work that was facilitated by the
Documentation Team in collaboration with the survivors. The nature of this
collaboration provided the basis for a strong foundation, and a result upheld by
the peoples pride and support.
Objectives
To publically display a photographic mural depicting the violent history of the
attempted genocide in the town of Rabinal, with images of rescued photographs
which had not been viewed in over 28 years. The fact is that there was no
photographic archive of the innocent indigenous victims killed by the military
during the civil war. In Rabinal, Guatemala people had little to no
documentation of their lost family members; their faces lived no, only in the
survivor's memory. The innovative element that surfaced with the completion of
the work,is that the indigenous survivors have documentation, a compilation of
testimonies and photographs of what transpired during those horrific years. The
installation of the montage integrated an educational display of the cultural
values, traditions, spirituality, tradgedies, hopes and dreams to enable
visitors to gain insight into the reality of the history of the town of Rabinal.
Documentation Team
The investigation of the work was devised of a team of four members which
performed the individual interviews, house visits, workshops and photographing
on a case to case basis. Implementing the theory that each persons individuality
should be valued to the umpteenth extent. We went through all the necessary
procedures to insure accuracy and decency of the content exhibited. The
documentation team was compiled by:
Alayna Nicole Wool- BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Project
Coordinator. Responsible for all data entry, design and photography, as well as,
the implementation of the overall integrity of the projects completion.
Pablo Tecu Sical- Orphan, originally from Pichec, Rabinal, Community
Coordinator. Responsible for all translations from Achi to Spanish.
Lucia Tecu Alvarado- Survivor of Xesiguan/Pichec, President of the Association
for Justice and Reconciliation. Responsible for all legal binding activities
and community involvement.
Mario Rojas Osorio- Survivor of Rio Negro, CALDH regional director. Responsible
for all data intake from the communities and comprehension.
*names have been changed for security reasons
Methodology
Please see PDF link above
Phase I
Design Implementation
To implement the design we used a method sensitive to the participants requests,
in an attempt to withhold the integral essence of the work by fusing art,
history and technology. This idea was well founded on truth and the voice of the
indigenous Achi population. The design was a challenge to unite the facts of the
scorched earth campaign, as told by the survivors. The memories which lived on
in the peoples"s minds were hard to hear and hard to convey in a tactful manner.
As a designer, there was a strong determination to be responsive to the wants
of how the population desired their voice to be portrayed in the output of the
design content. Thus resulting in a well founded integrally composed design, to
be publicly displayed on the outer wall of the local cemetery otherwise known
as campo santo. We included high definition photographs to accurately portray
the events that were conveyed to us in Phase 1 creating a flow which can been
seen in the presentation. The material we used for the installation, was a vinyl
that is specially created for a exterior rough surface that is heated at 1200
degrees and adhered with special rollers to bind the material to the wall.
Research Implications
With the information acquired during the above mentioned investigation phase,
the second phase of the project was able to commence. During Phase II, all of
the material we were able to collect was compiled by the Documentation Team to
construct a cohesive collective memory of the tragic events that transpired
during the mentioned years. The participants were all very active in the process
of voicing their opinions to formulate a plan, to have peace transpire through
the ongoing work that they do with the Association of Justice and Reconciliation
(AJR). AJR is taking these suggestions into account while working their annual
plans. In one of the communities we worked in, Plan de Sanchez we reported to
the UN the ruling by the Interamerican Court in 2003 has not been fulfilled to
date. Psychologists have not visited, the chapel the state was ordered to
construct was left halfway done and a health plan has not been put into effect.
When the Documentation Team met with the United Nations, Guatemala (OCNADUH) we
realized that they had been notified that all victims had been given
reconciliation and housing to compensate for their houses that were burned down.
However this is not the reality, through the workshops and house to house
interviews we conducted we were able to see that the rulings had not been
carried out and we therefor provided the UN with the current status of the
communities in Rabinal.
Results
During the 3 months that we were working in the field we were able to put
together the most complete list to date of more than 2000 names of the people
who were killed in the various massacres. We rescued approximately 800
photographs which were implemented into the Photographic Montage in the town of
Rabinal.
With the construction of the Photographic Montage we were able to gift every
participant with a photograph (8x10, framed) and complete an evaluation of the 7
communities that we worked within. The results of the evaluation, which we
documented in Spanish (translation provided upon request), are the following:
Please see PDF link above
Sustainability/Dissemination
The project has had a multiplying effect on surrounding regions within
Guatemala, which were also severely affected by the Internal Armed Conflict.
Other communities have requested the replication of the work in their towns. A
grant has been secured through the Association of Justice and Reconciliation and
Project Consulting Services (PCS) to systematize all the information compiled
during the investigation phase, in order to create interactive educational DVDs
which can be sent to museums, schools and other vicinities that request
information about the project. We will be using the information to create
informative brochures thereby increasing visibility of our work and in turn
increasing consciousness to the events that tran-spired during the genocide. The
Documentation Team will also be conducting four diagnostics in the towns of
Nebaj, Choatulum, Ixcan and Huehuetenango to investigate the feasibility of
replicating the work in these areas of Guatemala. Cur-rently, in February 2011
we gave a presentation on the work in San Juan, Puerto Rico and have an
additional presentation scheduled for March 2011 at the University of Sacred
Heart, San Juan, Puerto Rico. We are continuing the impact of our work by
coordinating with other organizations and schools that can help us further the
voices of the survivors.
Publications
Please
see PDF link above