Photography exhibit illustrates horrors in Guatemalan war

“This struggle is not just their struggle, it’s our struggle,” said human rights activist and photographer Jonathan Moller at a reception for his photography exhibit “Our Culture is Our Resistance.”

The event, sponsored by the IU History Graduate Student Association, took place Friday at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures in conjunction with the 2009 Paul Lucas Conference in History at IU, titled “Making Memory, Making History: Ideas and Identities Beyond Borders.”

Moller discussed his experiences chronicling the genocide and civil war in Guatemala with an intimate audience.

He said the worst examples in the past 25 years of state-sponsored genocide in Central America occurred in Guatemala against the indigenous people, who represent between 60 and 65 percent of the population. The events of the civil war left 200,000 people dead.

“It began to get some attention just 25 years ago, but the world, blinded by the media and racism, never knew,” he said.

Moller’s mission to expose the atrocities developed  while he was in art school in the mid- to late 1980s.

“My parents raised me to be conscious of social issues within other cultures,” he said. “I decided to chronicle Guatemala when I heard of the U.S. involvement in the Guatemalan civil war. I wanted to combine art and activism to depict this story.”

In the eight years he spent in Guatemala, Moller took black-and-white photographs of refugees who established small, self-governed communities. He said these nomadic communities boasted the slogan “Resistir para vivir,” Spanish for “Resist in order to live.”

He said that throughout his stay, many of these people went missing and were brought to United States-sponsored internment camps with other displaced Guatemalans. He said they were often killed, and their remains were scattered across the land by the Guatemalan military.  

Moller captured these experiences through what he called “technical photographs,” which displayed fractures and wounds on bones found in exhumations.

In connection with the theme of the presentation, the power of memory, Moller shared a quote from one of the refugees with whom he spoke with about the process of uncovering the remains.

“‘Exhumations should represent good news and moments of joy instead of reflections on the past,’” Moller said, reading the refugee’s words. “‘Exhumations help to heal the wounds of pain and sadness from the loss of loved ones.’”

Moller concluded with another quote from a Guatemalan resident.

“Would you be willing to convey our message to other lands?” the quote read.
Jing Jing Chang, a presenter in the conference from the University of Illinois, said Moller conveyed his message successfully.

“This presentation gave another perspective that wasn’t academic about the situation and showed the human side to the suffering of the people,” Chang said. “... He wants the pictures to speak for themselves.”

Senior Sarah Anderson agreed. She said students with an interest in human rights should see Moller’s exhibit because it is “important to not forget about what happened.”

“It’s powerful,” Anderson added. “It increases awareness and brings forth issues people don’t know about.”

Audience member Bryce Martin said he advocates the necessity of remembering the tragic events in Guatemala.

“Some of this is still going on, and as long we have amnesia about this, genocide will persist,” he said. “If more students knew about this, it may call them to action. Just seeing the photographs will tear your heart out.”