El Rezo

El Rezo/ Perpetually Settling Dust is both a meditation on the repeated atrocities of state terrorism and a prayer for a different future.

After a decade of work centered on the Holocaust, this piece shifts attention to my native Argentina to dissect the cultural genocide that took place under a military dictatorship, referred to as the “National Reorganization Process” that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. During this time human rights were ignored. 30,000 people—known as the desaparecidos—went missing; an estimated 500 babies born in captivity were given up for adoption, and left with no real identity.

This piece examines the residual effects of cultural trauma. In an exploration of expression in the form of community and healing through creation, the Argentine community was invited to participate in the embroidering of names of the desaparecidos.

This is an ongoing project started during my residency at ACE, Argentina.

Agradezco a los participantes de los circulos de bordado: Niza Ballestero, María Noel Caridad, Cristina Duro, Elinor Peiretti,  Silvia Guigón, Elena Gil, Melody Lachica Guini, Javier Cuberos, Veronica Souto, Clara Stivel, Susana Camin, Paola Cohen, Deborah Kaufman, Barita Vincenti, Denise Margueles, Miriam Bergonzi, Alba Castillo, Celina Levy, Beatriz Vaitkeviciuds, Sandra Astuena, Diana Susevich, Laura Ponturo.