AYOTZINAPA: A ROAR OF SILENCE
SELF HELP GRAPHICS & ART IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SOCIAL AND PUBLIC ART RESOURCE CENTER (SPARC), THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF POLITICAL GRAPHICS (CSPG), AND ART DIVISION – ALL LOS ANGELES-BASED ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTED TO USING ART FOR SOCIAL CHANGE-ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO BRING TOLEDO’S IMPORTANT, INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TO THE UNITED STATES FOR THE FIRST TIME. AYOTZINAPA: A ROAR OF SILENCE WILL TRAVEL THROUGHOUT LOS ANGELES FROM FEBRUARY THROUGH JUNE 2016. THE COMMUNITY IS INVITED TO VIEW, SUPPORT, AND AMPLIFY THE ROAR FOR JUSTICE HEARD FROM AYOTZINAPA AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS
Social and Public Art Resource Center’s intent is to examine what we choose to memorialize through public art, to devise and innovate excellent art pieces; and ultimately, to provide empowerment through participatory processes to residents and communities excluded from civic debate. SPARC’s works are never simply individually authored endeavors, but rather a collaboration between artists and communities, resulting in art which rises from within the community, rather than being imposed upon it.
Art Division is a professional training program for underserved young adults who show genuine commitment and passion for the visual arts.
Self Help Graphics & Art inspires the creation and promotion of new works by Chicano and Latino artists through experimental and innovative printmaking techniques and other visual art forms/media. Since 1973, SHG has been the intersection where arts and community meet, providing a forum for local and international artists.
The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) is an activist, educational, and research archive with more than 85,000 social movement posters from the 19th century to the present, including the largest collection of post WWII political posters in the United States. CSPG demonstrates the power and significance of these artistic expressions of social change through traveling exhibitions, lectures, publications, and workshops. Through our diverse programs, CSPG is reclaiming the power of art to inspire people to action.
“AYOTZINAPA: A ROAR OF SILENCE”
INTERNATIONAL POSTER COMPETITION AND THE 43 KITES CREATED BY FRANCISCO TOLEDO
On September 26, 2014, students from the Escuela Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa in the Mexican state of Guerrero boarded buses towards the town of Iguala, where they planned to protest a political event hosted by the mayor and his wife. As the students arrived in Iguala, the buses were stopped by local police. While details of the violent confrontation remain unclear, the police eventually opened fire, killing six and wounding 25. Another 43 student teachers were herded into police vehicles—and never seen again.
After months of inaction and incompetence, the Mexican government released an official statement claiming that the Iguala police had handed the students over to a local drug cartel, the Guerreros Unidos, who later incinerated all 43 bodies in a nearby garbage dump. While the Mexican government hoped to close the case on the missing students, experts pointed out that their claims are implausible, inconsistent, and scientifically unsound. The families of the missing students—with the support of the international community—continue to search for the truth.
Just eight weeks after the disappearances, internationally renowned artist and activist Francisco Toledo, in conjunction with the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO), launched an open call encouraging artists from all over the world to submit work about the 43 missing students for an exhibition titled Carteles de Ayotzinapa. Over 700 designs were submitted by artists from Mexico, Iran, Poland, Spain, Portugal, China, Greece, and other countries. Forty-three were displayed at the Museo de Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City, along with an installation of 43 kites—each displaying the face of one of the missing students—created by Toledo and participants of an “Art and Paper” workshop in Oaxaca. Proceeds raised by the exhibition went to the families of the disappeared students.
Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG), Art Division, and Self Help Graphics & Art – all Los Angeles-based organizations committed to using art for social change–are working together to bring Toledo’s important, international exhibition to the United States for the first time. Ayotzinapa: A Roar of Silence will travel throughout Los Angeles from February through June 2016. The community is invited to view, support, and amplify the roar for justice heard from Ayotzinapa and throughout the world.
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 7PM
Exhibition runs from May 5 through June 10, 2016
Special print atelier featuring: Pavel Acevedo, Damon Davis (St. Louis), Gris “Viva” Flores & Erica Marin, Joe Galarza, Xitlalic Guijosa, Jennifer Gutierrez Morgan, Poli Marichal, Nisha Sembi, Ray Vargas
Mural by Ricardo Estrada and Jaime “Vyal” Reyes
Works by: Sergio Arau, Fernando Barragan, Aise Bourne, Joe Bravo, David Botello, Wendy Carrillo, Victoria Delgadillo, Roberto Delgado, Eye.One, Consuelo Flores, Fernando Galvez, Margaret Garcia, Michael Gomez-Burton, Daniel Gonzalez, Rafael Haro, Zeal Harris, Wayne Healy, Luis “Chago” Huffington, Nery G Lemus, Oscar Magallanes, Alvaro D. Marquez, Felicia Montes, Nychole Owens, Sandy Rodriguez, Jimmy Saldivar, Dewey Tafoya, Melly Trochez, J. Michael Walker, Ernesto Yerena
Opening Reception at SPARC:
FEBRUARY 18TH – MARCH 26TH, 2016 from 5PM – 8PM
THE DURÓN GALLERY
685 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291 | 310-822-9560
Protest walk from SPARC to Art Division Sunday, March 27, 2016 at12pm
Opening Reception | ART DIVISION:
APRIL 2ND, 2016from 2 to 5pm
2430 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Dialogue
APRIL 14TH, 2016 from 7 to 8pm
2418 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Film Screening
APRIL 19TH, 2016 from 7:30 – 8:30pm
2418 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Opening Reception & Panel at SHG:
MAY 12th, 2016 from 7 to 10pm
MAY 5th – JUNE 10TH, 2016 (43: From Ayotzinapa to Ferguson)
See the exhibition before/after the march!
The 43 posters from the International Poster Competition are part of the permanent collection of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.