Mayra Martell. ‘Desaparecidas’
14 — 24 November 2023
- Artists
- Mayra Martell
- Curators
- Laia Casanova
- Venues
- Centre Excursionista de Catalunya
- A project by
- Centre Excursionista de Catalunya
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Video using photographs of the disappeared women documented by Mayra Martell. She has spent over 17 years creating various visual records in her hometown, one of the world’s most violent border regions, which is no stranger to the spotlight due to the numerous cases of femicide since the 1990s.
She has documented 172 cases of missing women in Ciudad Juárez. The series El acto de estrañar to which the video belongs, records the places these women/girls frequented and the personal possessions they possessed before their disappearance.
Martell is actively working on creating a book that compiles all the cases, including those the police have been reluctant to officially record. These cases are not documented anywhere else; this publication will serve as the exclusive space for remembering these missing women.
Mayra Martell documents the effects of structural violence on women in Latin America. Her work has primarily focused on femicides and human trafficking.
In 2019, she was nominated for the Joop Swart Masterclass competition. In 2016, she received a grant from the Sistema Nacional de Creadoras del Hondo Nacional de Cultura de México. She was also awarded the Young Creators Grant in 2005 and 2015, as well as Artistic Residencies from Fonca in 2007, 2008, and 2012. In 2021, she was awarded the Ankaria Photo Prize by the Ankaria Foundation in Madrid.
Her book Ciudad Juárez was published by the German publishing house Seltmann + Söhne in 2013. The books Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) and Petare (Venezuela) are part of the CLAP! 10X10 Contemporary Latin American Photobook festival, touring the United States and Europe. She has had exhibitions in Germany, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, France, Spain, Colombia, Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil, and the United States.
Laia Casanova
Gestora cultural. Des de l’any 2010 fins al 2022 va coordinar el programa d’arts visuals i de la imatge a Roca Umbert Fàbrica de les Arts . Actualment, compatibilitza la codirecció del Festival Panoràmic Granollers amb la Gerencia de Xarxaprod així com la direcció de la productora cultural A Nivell Produccions Culturals.