Empty schools and Silencios: pedagogical openings for memory-making in Colombia

ABSTRACT

This paper draws from Silencios – a photography series by the Colombian artist Juan Manuel Echavarría. Silencios comprises more than 120 portrayals of abandoned schools due to armed conflict in Los Montes de María, Colombia. Sharing Echeverría’s belief that ‘these chalkboards have lessons to tell us about war’, the author of this paper advocates for the pedagogical use of Silencios to promote and support memory works in Colombia. The present analysis acknowledges that hegemonic memories and narratives have a negative impact on conflict-affected societies due to their authoritarian and oppressive character.

Therefore, the pedagogical use of Silencios seeks to ignite multiple narratives and counterhegemonic memories that might emerge as the public interacts with the photography. The visuals, in this sense, become an educational opportunity to stimulate reflection and resistance against the monopoly of the past in a country that is currently emerging from conflict. In this paper, the abandoned schools are considered as memory sites, and as renewed learning spaces to stimulate reflections and debates upon the armed conflict. Silencios can contribute to peacebuilding efforts by bringing up the possibility to reconsider essentialist conceptions of peace, memory, and pedagogy, that might hinder potential venues for enduring peace in Colombia.

KEYWORDS:

• Armed conflict
• memory
• pedagogy
• reconciliation
• photography
• Colombia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Acronym for Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). This is the largest and oldest leftist armed group in Colombia. In the mid 90’s they were present in more than a half of the total municipalities of the country (Forrest, 2006).

2. Acronym for Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army).

3. Acronym for Ejército Popular de Liberación (Popular Liberation Army).

4. Acronym for Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-defense group of Colombia) .

5. Although Colombia might be now classified as a ‘post-conflict’ country, I try to avoid such terminology since it fails to grasp the nature of a conflict; it happens on a continuum rather than in compartmentalized and well-defined stages (Quaynor 2012). Since another guerilla group is in peace conversations with the government, and conflict has transformed into other configurations and ways of operation (criminal gangs, drug trafficking squads, dissident groups, etc.), using the term ‘post-conflict’ might overshadow the complexity that entails transitioning into another stage, while pursuing social and political reconstruction. The country’s liminal stage of not in war, yet in peace (Bellino 2017), comprises multiple challenges and efforts to consider in coming to terms with the past and its legacies.

6. Understood as ‘the full range for processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past abuses, in order to ensure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation’ (United Nations).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniela Romero-Amaya

Daniela Romero-Amaya is a Doctoral Fellow in the Social Studies Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests are related to History Education, Citizenship Education, and the civic engagement and participation of youth in conflict-affected contexts. She is currently researching on the youth’s meanings and understandings regarding the armed conflict in Colombia and the current peace process.