Photo: Luna roja, center of Bogota, 2021.
Naturally, art has always been part of demonstrations and gatherings. Art to protest, to express oneself or to emancipate oneself. In all forms, all colors, all faces, this emergence of creativity gave voice to those who did not have one. In Cali, on June 13, a 12-meter statue was even erected in protest and in memory of those who died during the Paro Nacional. For some, art is a real way of screaming and defending yourself.
My name is Sofia (Luna Roja is my artist name), I am a graphic design student at the University of Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano. I have been a freelance illustrator for almost a year and a half. I have always known that I had the duty and the responsibility to create new realities, realities that rebuild the social fabric, dialogue and respond to disturbing and questionable issues. It is essential that my work is linked to my passion, that everything connects, my tastes and my doubts, and that they help me to understand the world and the reality that surrounds me but also my relationship to others.
What we have been experiencing for decades in Colombia is an obvious social epidemic based on inequalities and acts that are destroying the country: war, the spraying of glyphosate, paramilitarism, the assassinations of women and social leaders, theft and the corruption of traditional parties, the links that exist between the government, tax havens and drug trafficking, the armed and public forces who murder young demonstrators who fight for a better country. In Colombia we live in conditions where a member of Congress earns around 34,417,000 Colombian pesos (€ 7,750) when the working class struggles to survive. Education is a privilege for a few. There are regions totally forgotten by the government. These same regions are going through an endless war, and that is precisely what we are experiencing today in big cities.
Drawing of Luna Roja, 2021. "You will end up hating the oppressed and loving the oppressor".
Thanks to it, we build critical thinking: it is power and freedom.
It is also difficult to have a clear vision of the future. We will enter in the working world with debts.. Our colleagues will disappear, we will live an eternal war where cruelty is normalized and the perpetrators of these crimes will go unpunished after causing so much pain and misery.
They take away our soul, our art and the hope of being able to live far from the Men who have kept us in violence. Women, Afro, natives, peasants or some "minorities" are not considered by politicians and are unfortunately the first victims of conflicts and hatred. I also fear for my family, my sisters and brothers who suffered because they did not know if they were going to eat the next day. I am afraid to fight in vain and, after a long struggle, those above continue to kill us.
Art is the living expression of new realities. He is a dissenter, he must be rebellious and subversive. It is evident that with graffiti, community pots and peaceful protests, art is our key tool, simply because it is an integral part of Latino culture. This is what causes annoyance among the "good people" who inaugurate monuments without flavor. Our art is about people who live in cities. Thanks to it, we build critical thinking: it is power and freedom.
I also try to find myself through my work. To answer the questions I ask myself and build my own universe. I always try to be true to myself and draw the things that are beyond me.
Drawing of Luna Roja, 2021. "Great are the pains when they assassinate those who fight".
You have to be open to dialogue to understand that Latin American feminism and the "Marea verde" *
I am recognized as an openly feminist woman. My art is the tool I have chosen to understand the world. Thanks to him I discovered many ways to build or deconstruct the normality that we are confronted with, because it is predetermined and imposed. In Colombia more precisely, daily violence is mixed with patriarchal violence which I consider to be cultural misogyny. Women (understanding the ambiguity and breadth of this term) and their bodies have been the territory of men's war (regardless of party, ideology or school of thought). We have been abused, ridiculed, belittled and brutally murdered.
We don't have the same professional or academic opportunities as men. No matter the sectors, there will always be someone who tries to mock or belittle the movement without wanting to understand how extensive it is.
Machismo is complex and can be found in different forms. He is present even in the women who had to live with him. We are constantly evolving, even if the government does not want to see it, in Latin America for example it is obvious that most households are made up of mothers. Responsibility for many areas of society lies with us without any remuneration comparable to cis men. It is obvious that men also suffer from the abuses of a patriarchal system. They go to war to conform to a military notebook for the simple fact of being honorable. You have to be open to dialogue to understand that Latin American feminism and the "Marea verde" * are not going to stop. We are present in society as active elements of dialogue and construction, not just motherhood and flattery.
It's simple, among other things, I want justice for the crimes committed, young people and missing persons, that the society reaches a stability where all citizens can have the same opportunities, that women live in all freedom and fearlessness, like everyone else, and that the financing of the war and the armed forces be stopped. I want a reform of the police force which obliges the police officers to educate themselves and to answer for the acts committed, that the indigenous peoples, the peasants, the Afro and the women are worthy and pillars of our country.
I appreciate the invitation and also want to make one for people who read me and know the struggle continues. We will continue to build this country that we love so much. Life must be respected and we must find meaning in our struggles. I invite everyone to have critical and decolonial thinking. Neither Colombia nor Latin America will continue to be looted and massacred territories. Our hope will stay alive and our dreams will not be snatched away.
* La Marea verde is a pro-abortion feminist movement born in 2018 in Argentina. This name comes from the green scarves worn by the demonstrators, a sign of rallying to this cause.
Comments