MEMORY PROJECTS IN GUATEMALA: COMMUNITY-BASED SPACES AND THEIR PURPOSE

Abstract

Guatemala is well-known for its 36-year civil war that brought great loss to the people of Guatemala. There have been many forms of transitional justice implemented in Guatemala to help the country move from times of violence to times of peace. From truth commissions to genocide trials to spaces of art, they all serve in recognizing justice and memory. Little research has been done, however, on community-based projects regarding the conflict. I therefore examine the physical ways memory can be put together and the mechanisms that surround these projects. I argue that the physical memory projects in Guatemala are created for each specific community affected by the conflict in order for them to define their story and make the viewer understand through an experience. I look at two specific cases, a well-known mural in Comalapa and a museum in Guatemala City called Casa de la Memoria. I began this research and was able to visit Casa de la Memoria during my study abroad in Guatemala the summer of 2019.