Memory, image and violence: Traces of collective memory in pictorial art.

• Main Authors: Sandra Marcela Ríos Rincón, Juan Carlos Ramos Pérez
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Pedagógica Nacional 2014-05-01
• Series: Pensamiento Palabra y Obra
• Subjects: Imagen; memoria colectiva; historia; arte; violencia política.
• Online Access: http://revistas.pedagogica.edu.co/index.php/revistafba/article/view/2300

Is it possible to trace the collective memory by means of artistic images? In order to address this issue, the text develops a documentary review on the concepts of memory and image in pictorial arts. It starts by presenting some general ideas concerning the existence and formation of a collective memory, underlining the concept of experience and its representation. At this point, the relationships between language, art and memory, as well as the particular manner in which a certain type of artistic image may represent a collective memory are taken in the terms of Halbwachs and presented as the main thesis of this article. Then, we analyze how the image has been used from a historical perspective and how it may become a tool for memory unraveling. Finally, we address the ways in which violence -particularly social and political violence in Colombia during the second half of the twentieth century- has been presented in artistic terms, focusing on collective memory. In this regard, an analysis of three paintings of renowned Colombian artists is undertaken.