Invisibility, Grief, and Death: A New Burial in Mexican Contemporary Art

Abstract

With the perpetuation of violence in Mexico, traditional forms of mourning and burial have become increasingly inaccessible to victims and their families. Widespread bloodshed has not only resulted in mass burials of unnamed victims, but the Mexican government furthers the trauma by discouraging institutional processes that would otherwise bring closure and recognition to affected families. In response to the institutions that have rendered victims invisible, this article argues that Mexican contemporary artists have created their own spaces of mourning, referred to as a ‘new burial,’ to repair traditions of death that have otherwise been compromised or denied entirely.