Manos Anónimas
While I was in Córdoba, Argentina, I visited a museum called el Palacio Ferreyra with the students from our host school, el colegio San Martin. During the museum visit, we viewed an exhibit by Carlos Alonso, a renowned Argentine artist, entitled "Manos Anónimas" (aka Anonymous Hands in english). I was incredibly moved by Alonso's work (hence why I decided to write this post).
Alonso's motivation for creating his work was the kidnapping and murder of his daughter during the Argentinian Dirty War (a period of time in the 1970s during which around 30,000 Argentinians, known as "los desaparecidos," were kidnapped by the government, tortured, and killed). This exhibit is filled with feelings of sadness and desperation, for the people taken by the government were often completely powerless and defenseless against their captors. Alonso focused his paintings on the mistreatment and abuse the women "desaparecidos" faced during the Dirty War. His work displayed gruesome scenes of women being taken advantage (sexually, etc.) by the "anonymous hands" of their monstrous captors.
Several of his paintings also depicted the aftermath of women being stolen from their homes: he painted images of children crying amongst a backdrop of rubble. He also painted a series of pregnant women being attacked to show how merciless and cruel the kidnappers were during the Dirty War. And sadly, after the time I spent studying the Dirty War, I can tell that the scenes Alonso painted are not farfetched at all. Many of the female "desaparecidos" were either kidnapped while they were pregnant or they were raped while in captivity (and their children were then stolen from them as soon as they were born). Even now, over 40 years after the dictatorship that caused the Dirty War, thanks to the work of organizations like Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, some of the stolen children of los desaparecidos are still being discovered and reunited with the rest of their families (these children are clear evidence that women were pregnant during the Dirty War).
Carlos Alonso's work managed to evoke emotion and give the viewer a glimpse of the suffering the "disappeared" Argentinian women faced during the Dirty War. I was moved by his work because I could clearly sense Alonso's sadness and anger at the injustice his daughter had to face. Part of the reason this exhibit is so depressing is because the scenes Alonso painted are not farfetched at all, and they most likely happened in some way or another. It's disheartening to see that both a government could commit all of these crimes against their own citizens, and that humans could commit all of these crimes against other innocent humans.
Although the artwork is much more powerful in person, here are some of the pictures I took of several of the paintings while I was in the museum:
Alonso's motivation for creating his work was the kidnapping and murder of his daughter during the Argentinian Dirty War (a period of time in the 1970s during which around 30,000 Argentinians, known as "los desaparecidos," were kidnapped by the government, tortured, and killed). This exhibit is filled with feelings of sadness and desperation, for the people taken by the government were often completely powerless and defenseless against their captors. Alonso focused his paintings on the mistreatment and abuse the women "desaparecidos" faced during the Dirty War. His work displayed gruesome scenes of women being taken advantage (sexually, etc.) by the "anonymous hands" of their monstrous captors.
Several of his paintings also depicted the aftermath of women being stolen from their homes: he painted images of children crying amongst a backdrop of rubble. He also painted a series of pregnant women being attacked to show how merciless and cruel the kidnappers were during the Dirty War. And sadly, after the time I spent studying the Dirty War, I can tell that the scenes Alonso painted are not farfetched at all. Many of the female "desaparecidos" were either kidnapped while they were pregnant or they were raped while in captivity (and their children were then stolen from them as soon as they were born). Even now, over 40 years after the dictatorship that caused the Dirty War, thanks to the work of organizations like Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, some of the stolen children of los desaparecidos are still being discovered and reunited with the rest of their families (these children are clear evidence that women were pregnant during the Dirty War).
Carlos Alonso's work managed to evoke emotion and give the viewer a glimpse of the suffering the "disappeared" Argentinian women faced during the Dirty War. I was moved by his work because I could clearly sense Alonso's sadness and anger at the injustice his daughter had to face. Part of the reason this exhibit is so depressing is because the scenes Alonso painted are not farfetched at all, and they most likely happened in some way or another. It's disheartening to see that both a government could commit all of these crimes against their own citizens, and that humans could commit all of these crimes against other innocent humans.
Although the artwork is much more powerful in person, here are some of the pictures I took of several of the paintings while I was in the museum:
It breaks my heart when I see these images and read your vivid description of this exhibit. Your post reminds us all of the importance of remembering the atrocities of so many innocent victims.
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