I attended the Art, Gender, and Conflict lecture on March 4th where Patricia Arisa (sp?) spoke about the founding and continued work of her ground breaking theater in Colombia, the Casa del Cultura. Patricia is the author of over two dozen books, is an actress, and most importantly, is a political activist in a country that has four million displaced people, most them women, and that is plagued with immense social inequality. Colombia also suffers from perpetual violence; it has been in armed conflict for over 50 years. Patricia pointed out that the paramilitary uses the body's of women as loot. In response to the problems of the country Patricia and her fellow directors (many of them women) write and perform plays that display options and solutions for women. Patricia stated that through this type of work women use their body's to represent themselves in a poetic way in public spaces. For example, the theater puts on a monthly show in central plazas that have historically represented masculinity and patriarchy. In one of the short films, "Mujeres en la Plaza," the Swatchas (sp?), women who have had their children abducted, were joined by other groups of women demanding that the government tell them the whereabouts of the missing people.
I think one of the most significant ways in which this lecture relates to our class is that these women are discovering the truth about their situations through each other. Patricia shared that through sharing stories with one another women are arriving at truths through conflicting stories told by the government and their own experiences. I have personally been learning a lot about my own situation from reading the stories of other women. Additionally, Patricia shared that this is not just a "feminist" event in Colombia, but rather that this is an event for peace and social justice globally, which, from what I have gathered, is big theme in our class.
Note: I apologize if the spellings of important details are incorrect. The lecture was completely in Spanish and I spelled things phonetically, hence the (sp?).
I think one of the most significant ways in which this lecture relates to our class is that these women are discovering the truth about their situations through each other. Patricia shared that through sharing stories with one another women are arriving at truths through conflicting stories told by the government and their own experiences. I have personally been learning a lot about my own situation from reading the stories of other women. Additionally, Patricia shared that this is not just a "feminist" event in Colombia, but rather that this is an event for peace and social justice globally, which, from what I have gathered, is big theme in our class.
Note: I apologize if the spellings of important details are incorrect. The lecture was completely in Spanish and I spelled things phonetically, hence the (sp?).
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