Recovering Memory
On July 18th of 1994, a terrible terrorist attack occurred in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The target was the AMIA, Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association), an important Jewish Community Centre. The bombing was executed as a suicidal attack. A bomb-laden van was driven into the AMIA building and subsequently detonated, killing 85 people and injuring over 300, making a deep wound in the heart of Argentinian society.
The bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history, and as years have gone by, it has been dismissed by politicians and political situations that have happened in the country, overshadowing any possibility of justice.
Today, after 30 years of that frightening crime, we still claim justice for all the victims and memory for all the world.
In 2019, I had the chance to meet an old friend, Elio Kapszuk, who is the Director of Art and Production of AMIA. We started talking without knowing that that conversation would conclude in an extraordinary idea: to paint a portrait of every fatal victim of AMIA bombing. I felt that it was like a mission for me, a sort of grain of sand that I could contribute in order to sustain memory and claim justice. We realized in that moment that it would be an extremely hard project to do if we wanted this to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the tragedy. But I felt that I had to experience that pressure and work against the clock. I began working immediately, and after almost seven months, the whole series was finished.
I decided to focus on their lives. That decision was a gesture, a symbolic act that I made in order to not allow hate to triumph. So, I asked the families of the victims, with the amazing effort of production of AMIA, to share with me the last photo that existed of their loved ones. My idea was to capture that vital second that was congealed in the photo and turn it into a new experience of memory and life with the help of watercolor, which is a delicate and hard medium to use and, also, uses water as the main medium. And, as we know, water is a synonym of life.
I tirelessly sought to reflect every detail, even those resulting from the passage of time in photography. Some photos were almost destroyed. Other ones were out of focus, or in black and white. We have to take in count that in 1994 there were not cellphones, so taking photos wasn´t something of every day. After this truly exercise of memory and recovery, I hope I have been close to achieving that, to honor all of those who trusted me with the task.
It was a deeply spiritual exercise for me. I felt a kind of connection with each person that I painted. Every single brushstroke I did, changed something inside of me. Without using words and while doing this work, I learned about life, death, love and time, and I´m profoundly grateful about having been able to do this. I really know, deep in my heart, that the bombing didn´t achieve the objective of horror that it was looking for. After all, there is always someone who will still love those victims, even without having met them because, in them, there is a mirror of oneself and also, a reflection of all the people they love.
Unfortunately, justice hasn´t been done yet because those who have the responsibility to impart it, still looking the other way. But we know that love will finally defeat all this horror.
Memory, truth and justice!
June 2024
