Reference :
V-P-PE-E-01239
Date :
06/2018
Caption :
Ayacucho region. Drawing of a little girl representing the night her father disappeared.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
This picture is from an exhibition "Suyay", by the artist Laia Abril. It depicts the pain and resilience of families waiting for answers concerning the fate of their missing relatives in Peru. The exhibition was held at the Centre de la Photographie Genève from 7 to 25 November 2018. The show's title from the Quecha word suyay, which means "to wait."
Exhibition extract, "The abduction"
"In the middle of the night, my husband woke me up. I think someone wants to come in," he said. As I got up, someone opened the corrugated iron door and five soldiers came in. They took my husband out of the room and started beating him. I asked them why they were doing this to him. They answered with words I will not repeat. They hit me on the head and I don't remember anything else. When I woke up, my daughter was crying on the floor in the middle of the mess. I left the house calling for my husband, screaming and holding my daughter. Someone said to me, 'Stop calling her. They took him away.
Adelina García's husband, Zósimo Tenorío Prado, disappeared in 1983 in Ayacucho department. Forty per cent of the deaths recorded during the armed conflict took place in this region. "
ICRC website, article of 08.11.2018:
"Waiting is never passive: New photos shed light on Peru’s missing
Twenty thousand families sit suspended between life and death: unable to mourn or move forward until they know the fate of their relatives.
Waiting is not a passive activity:
The women in this exhibition tirelessly campaigning to discover the fate of their loved ones. None more so than Adelina Garcia, former president of ANFASEP, who has been searching for her husband since he went missing in 1983.
"Too often the full story is not told. That's why it was important for me to be a part of this project as it's important to me that people know the entire story, and the stories of what has happened to other women as well," Garcia said at the exhibition opening.
"I won't be able to stop until I find his remains and can bury him. For instance, my mum is buried in the cemetery. Sometimes I go and sit down beside her. I talk to her, and tell her what I'm doing. But on 4 January, when it's his birthday, I can't do that," Garcias said.
It is impossible to know exactly how many people are missing today as a result of armed conflicts, migration or natural disasters.
This photo series reminds us that no matter how much time passes, the inter-generational trauma for families is everlasting.
Resolution :
5237x3491
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
