Yuyanapaq: To remember

EMU Cultural Forum, January 17- February 2, 2008

Between 1980 and 2000, Peru went through a period of extreme political violence. A Maoist organization, known as "Shining Path", started a revolutionary war against the Peruvian state that triggered a period of violence that involved insurgents, state armed forces, para-mililtary groups, and peasants' self-defense groups. Numerous human rights violations were committed by all sides during those twenty years of violence. A report by the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, CVR), issued in 2003, estimated that 69,280 Peruvians lost their lives during this period.

As part of the CVR's effort to document the history of this period and the ways in which violence impacted on Peruvians' daily lifes, a photo exhibit was organized and shown for the first time in Peru in August 2003. Entitled "Yuyanapaq," a Quechua term that means "To Remember", the original exhibit included about 250 photographs taken from more than 90 archives belonging to different media outlets, news agencies, military institutions, human rights organizations, and private collections. A catalog was also published to accompany the exhibit.

An itinerant selection of these visual documents, comprised by 40 photographs, has been presented since 2004 in countries such as Mexico, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

This important exhibit will be presented at the University of Oregon's Adell McMillan Art Gallery, from January 17th through February 2nd., 2008, and is co-sponsored by the UO's Cultural Forum.

For further information, please contact Carlos Aguirre (caguirre@uoregon.edu), Gabriela Martínez (gmartine@uoregon.edu) or Simone Coker (Visual Arts Coordinator, University of Oregon Cultural Forum, scoker@uoregon.edu)