Vis. [un]necessary force. A socially engaged creative practice research project

Vis. [un]necessary force. A socially engaged creative practice research project

Luz Maria Sanchez Cardona / Mexico
Metropolitan Autonomous University, Lerma
l.sanchez@correo.ler.uam.mx

Vis is a long-term socially-engaged creative practice research project that—using digital technology as a tool—examines the consequences of violence on the daily life of civilians in contemporary Mexico. This project addresses the tensions that take place in the smallest human unit/group possible: family. Specifically, Vis focuses on families in both rural and urban areas of Mexico, that have one or more members that are not kidnapped nor killed nor present: absentees, that is those that were taken away by police-forces, by the military , or by members of drug-cartels. At present the absentees, their children and/or spouses [not officially orphans or widowers yet], are just numbers and statistics in governmental reports. This project reclaims the experiences of these families by attentive-listening to them, understanding their stories, and engaging them into an active participation into how they would like to be portrayed within the contemporary social ethos. Using the potential of technology through creative-practice, Vis collaborates with these families in order to regain the lost power of their voice—a voice that has been silenced—within a dialogue that has yet to start in Mexico.

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