DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/JKB6-E373

Defense Date

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Fine Arts - Photography and film

First Advisor

Robert Paris

Abstract

PRODUCTO CENTRO AMERICANO: MADE IN HONDURAS By Alma Leiva Master of Fine Arts A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011. Thesis Director: Robert Paris, Professor Kinetic Imaging / Photography and Film I was born in 1973 in Honduras, a country under military regime. In 1982 after 20 years of military rule, Honduras finally had democratic elections. During that decade, and as a consequence of the cold war, the kidnapping, torturing, murder and disappearance of civilians became common practices among the Honduran military. Peasant activists, university leaders, union workers and intellectuals were among its favorite targets. In Producto Centroamericano: Made in Honduras I present the viewer with a "product" entrenched in Honduran history; the disappearance of almost two hundred civilians in the 1980's for political reasons. The work also presents the viewer with the imminent threat of the return of this practice after its military coup in 2009. By juxtaposing references of torturing tools such as knives, metal poles, chains and meat hooks, against more frail materials such as paper, wax and fabric, I make allusions to the vulnerability of the individual against such repressive forces. Through the elements presented in the installation, I try to take the viewer on a journey that will hopefully, confront one with one’s own humanity and ultimately with one’s own mortality.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

May 2011

Included in

Fine Arts Commons

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