Blasting Through the City: Combating Feminicide Through Public Art in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Arts
HAVC (History of Art and Visual Culture) 185: Critical Issues and Professional Practices in Visual S
Blasting Through the City: Combating Feminicide Through Public Art in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico explores the role of public art in raising awareness for women’s rights. Feminicide, the gendered violence that has resulted in mass murders, arose in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in the early 1990s. This is due to the construction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which resulted in maquiladoras (technological assembly plants) and the emergence of working women in Mexico. The new class of working women and the promise of economic prosperity attracted young women from rural Mexican towns to the city. Unfortunately, patriarchal hierarchies were concentrated in the maquiladora industry, thus becoming places of exploitation for poor, young women. Working along with the complex drug systems that plagued the city, Ciudad Juarez soon became a dangerous, if not lethal, place for women. The irresponsible and dismissive nature of the police force resulted in public art that investigated the consequences of feminicide. This paper explores the role of public art in disseminating information about feminicide on local, national, and international levels.
