PIEZAS FALTANTES - MISSING PIECES
Piezas Faltantes connects a disregarded population in Colombia — family members of people who went missing due to the political armed conflict — with audiences in big cities, preserving the memory and dignity of their loved ones by shining a light on their stories. The intervention is intended to defeat a big hurdle between those who had suffered the scourge of the conflict and those who had not: indifference.
Through a lens of empathy, big audiences in Colombian cities connect with the stories of those who disappeared and never came back.
By involving a storytelling strategy that includes the active participation of the families, artists, social organizations and the public itself in a collaborative art experience that addresses a common goal: no more victims.
Colombia is a country of victims.
Even when the actual number is still unclear, there is an estimation of more than FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND cases of enforced disappearance in Colombia during the last 30 years. All these cases and many other war outcomes have created a very damaged social fabric in the country: Colombia is a country of victims. Both direct and indirect.
Although victims of this specific crime have been impacted for various reasons, all of them and their families, face a common hurdle:
INDIFFERENCE is a prevailing expression of the divided experience of violence in the country, separating those who had directly suffered the scourge of missing someone from those who had not. And also experience the fear of being associated and involved with the cases increasing the division.
In addition to the pain and uncertainty SUFFERED, families of missing ones are questioned, discredited, and disregarded by both:
The Colombian State, who -despite its recent efforts to repair victims of the conflict, HAVE BEEN PART OF THIS ISSUE AS THE PERPETRATOR ITSELF.
And the Colombian Society, those COLOMBIANS who are disconnected from this reality.
If INDIFFERENCE, APATHY, and LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY are unfolding these dire outcomes. What would EMPATHY, ENGAGEMENT, and CONNECTION bring up?
The intervention works through three stages, connecting 4 dots.
Connecting dots in 3 stages
FIRST STAGE
Everything starts with one story. Families share their testimony and resources that they think are relevant such as pictures or personal archives. These materials are delivered to a VISUAL ARTIST and to a WRITER. They create two meaningful pieces: a poetic micro-story and an artwork, symbolizing and dignifying the missing one's memory.
SECOND STAGE
These two components come together into ONE piece, along with information that introduces enforced disappearance, and reminds that this crime, as well as every other outcome of the war, not only affects individuals, but also entire families and communities.
The piece is translated into an artifact that is the public intervention driver: A JIGSAW PUZZLE.
THIRD STAGE
The following stage takes place with the puzzle, which allows the connection with the general public. The puzzle is used as the tool to conduct a public intervention in which participants are engaged through a collaborative activity that serves as a metaphor for missing people's actions to find their loved ones.
