Storymap exploring the violent and unjust history of Guatemala

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March 5, 2024

Art As Resistance
Understanding and Defying Landscapes of Violence in Guatemala
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We are happy to share this quite moving StoryMap prepared by UNBC student Mackenzie Ostberg after she participated in the May 2023 UNBC-Rights Action Experiential Learning in Guatemala:

Geographies of Culture, Rights & Power:
The Global Order, Injustice and Resistance in Guatemala

Mackenzie prepared this StoryMap of photos, descriptions, histories and contexts of moments captured during a two week educational road trip hosted by Rights Action, that forms part of a UNBC course offered by Professor Catherine Nolin.
Art as Resistance: Understanding and Defying Landscapes of Violence in Guatemala
By Mackenzie Ostberg, February 21, 2024

"We take art from the past and present, the necessary parallels for more integrated communication. We acknowledge our debt to all those visionaries who left in their painting the imprint of latent humanity. The old and young, the well-known, the anonymous, the ignored. Nevertheless, essentially we do not forget the beings and things of the environment that surrounds us. Here we live, and here are the roots that bind us." - Excerpt from Grupo Vertebra Manifesto, 1970.
Introduction

Located South of Mexico, neighbored by Belize, and north of El Salvador and Honduras is Guatemala; a country filled with striking green mountains, vibrant and colourful textiles, and bustling markets.

However, underlying this breathtaking landscape is a legacy of violence, colonization, invasion, displacement, and resistance. The resistance presented by Guatemalans manifests in multiple fashions, such as protests, legal action, and art. The artwork, street murals, and posters that are evident throughout Guatemala represent communities’ resistance to both the genocide and neoliberal development.

However, I also witnessed and learned about art that displays various communities’ ways of life, from farming to fruit markets, weaving, and dancing. The wonderful gift of being able to see the colours and paintings that flow like magic through communities shows that while there is tremendous agony due to both global and national causes, there is also joy and life, cultivated from generations of self-sufficiency, reliability, and cultural preservation.

This ArcGIS storymap walks you through the violent and unjust history of Guatemala by location through resistance artwork. The purpose of this project is to bring awareness to the stark injustices that the people of Guatemala have and continue to face not only at the hands of their government, but at the hands of Canada and the Western world.

The images presented here were taken by me during the 2023 Guatemala field school led by Dr. Catherine Nolin from the University of Northern British Columbia and Grahame Russell from Rights Action, and during my independent study under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Nolin. I believe that the resistance art seen below is a communication pathway not just to denounce impunity, but also for us as the benefitters of injustice to learn of the role that Canada has in such pain.
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To learn about these struggles first hand, join us this May for our second Testimonio Educational Delegation in Guatemala. MORE INFO HERE ([link removed])

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To support land and environmental defenders, and human rights, justice and democracy defense struggles in Honduras and Guatemala, make check to "Rights Action" and mail to:
* U.S.: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
* Canada: Box 82858, RPO Cabbagetown Toronto, ON, M5A 3Y2

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