For Those Who Are No Longer Here is a performance/memorial dedicated to women who were and are still being killed in the world. It decries the magnitude of violence, impunity, and oblivion and ritualizes the need for solidarity and poetic action against feminicide.
“For those …” emerged from my collaboration with the Rubro Obsceno collective in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, and started from the need to communicate our pain and helplessness in the face of the death of our sisters: feminicide as a way of war that is expressed in our bodies, bodies that are marked, tortured, because they are seen as property, bodies disposed of as garbage... bodies of women who were and are being murdered not only for being women, but for being poor, indigenous, women of color. Can a performative act heal? How to create symbolic and poetic actions that help us to continue questioning and positioning ourselves against this violence? How to look for ways to be in and with our bodies beyond the colonial-western-patriarchal-neoliberal gaze? With these questions we set up our principles for the work creating a memorial: memory as a political act so that this violence does not keep repeating itself. Remembrance so as not to repeat.
In 2016 I presented the original version at Eastside Cultural Center. Later, José Navarrete from NAKA Dance Theater invited me to an artistic residency, part of the 2018 Live Arts In Resistance program (LAIR). The support organization for immigrant workers, Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA), became the key partner to ensure the inclusion of the community in this new process. This approach to working together with the compañeras of MUA, with whom I share the condition of being a woman, immigrant and Latina, made us reflect on our experiences, how the violence that is imprinted on our bodies has been happening historically within a context aggravated by social and economic conditions and lack of rights for immigrants. Perhaps there has not been such a clear moment in the history of this country as the current one, where the government so openly reveals its primordial role to legitimize the control over our bodies, where policies that deprive us of our reproductive rights, overlap with the abuse and rape, to further marginalize the work of women and exclude our voices. This is the precise moment in which our voices should not only be heard, but also Pluralized.
We invite you to be part of this action / ritual, which is our way of asking for justice, of doing politics, and of honoring the lives of those who are no longer here.
Para aquella que no están más es un performance/memorial dedicado a las mujeres que fueron y siguen siendo asesinadas en el mundo. Denuncia la magnitud de la violencia, la impunidad, y el olvido, y ritualiza la necesidad de una acción solidaria y poética contra el feminicidio.
“Para aquellas...” surgió de mi colaboración con el colectivo Rubro Obsceno en Sao Paulo, Brasil, en el 2015, y partió de la necesidad de comunicar nuestro dolor e impotencia ante la muerte de nuestras hermanas: el feminicidio como una forma de guerra que se expresa en nuestros cuerpos, cuerpos que se marcan, se torturan, porque son vistos como propiedad, cuerpo convertidos en basura… Cuerpos de mujeres que fueron y están siendo asesinadas no sólo por ser mujeres, sino por ser pobres, indígenas, mujeres de color. ¿Puede un acto performativo sanar? ¿Cómo crear acciones simbólicas y poéticas que nos ayuden a seguir cuestionando y posicionándonos en contra de estas violencias? ¿Cómo buscar maneras de estar en y con nuestros cuerpos más allá de la mirada colonial-occidental-patriarcal-neoliberal? Con estas preguntas sentamos nuestros principios para el trabajo creando un memorial, la memoria como un acto político para que esta violencia no siga repitiéndose. Recordar para no Repetir.
En el 2016 presenté esta versión original en Eastside Cultural Center. Posteriormente, José Navarrete de NAKA dance, me invitó a realizar una residencia artística, dentro del programa del 2018 Live Arts In Resistance (LAIR). La organización de apoyo a trabajadoras inmigrantes Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA), se convirtieron en las socias claves para asegurarnos la inclusión de la comunidad en este nuevo proceso. Esta aproximación al trabajo junto a las compañeras de MUA, con las que comparto la condición de ser mujeres, inmigrantes y latinas, nos hizo reflexionar a partir de nuestras experiencias, cómo las violencias que se imprimen en nuestros cuerpos han estado sucediendo históricamente dentro de un contexto agravado por condiciones sociales, económicas y de ausencia de derechos para lxs inmigrantes. Quizás no ha habido un momento tan claro en la historia de este país como el actual, donde tan abiertamente el mismo gobierno revela su rol primordial para legitimizar el control sobre nuestros cuerpos, con políticas que nos privan de nuestros derechos reproductivos, solapan el abuso y violación sexual, precarizan el trabajo de las mujeres y excluyen nuestras voces. Este es el preciso momento en el que nuestras voces no solo deben ser escuchadas, sino también pluralizadas. L(as) invitamos a ser parte de esta acción/ritual, que es nuestra manera de pedir justicia, de hacer política y de honrar las vidas de aquellas que no están más.
Violeta Luna’s (Actress/Performance Artist/Activist) work explores the relationship between theater, performance art and community engagement. Working within a multidimensional space that allows for the crossing of aesthetic and conceptual borders, Luna uses her body as a territory to question and comment on social and political phenomena. Born in Mexico City, Luna obtained her graduate degree in Acting from the Centro Universitario de Teatro (UNAM,) and La Casa del Teatro. She has performed and taught workshops extensively throughout Latin America and Europe, as well as in Rwanda, Egypt, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and USA. While primarily working as a solo performer, she is also an associate artist of the San Francisco-based performance collectives La Pocha Nostra and Secos & Mojados. She is a Creative Capital and National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fellow, and a member of The Magdalena Project: International Network of Women in Contemporary Theatre. Significant works include: Requiem for a Lost Land, Frida, NK603: Action for Performer and e-Maiz, Apuntes sobre la Frontera and a series of collaborations with La Pocha Nostra. www.violetaluna.com
Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) is a grassroots organization of Latina immigrant women with a dual mission of promoting personal transformation and building community power for social and economic justice. Since 1989, MUA has created a safe haven for Latina immigrant women suffering from domestic violence, poverty, and exploitation. With offices in San Francisco and Oakland and a satellite program at a partner agency in Union City, MUA provides a safe space where women can address basic needs and dismantle barriers of low self-esteem, domestic violence, and economic hardship that prevent them from recognizing their own potential to improve the conditions and circumstances they face.
Dulce María Escalante, was born in Guerrero, Mexico. She studied until her high school in her hometown, and since she was 11 years old she has been working and taking care of her family. In 2006 she arrived in the US in search of improving her living conditions. She is a member of MUA where she has taken training courses in facilitation, sexual assault response workshops, and Consejera del Alma (counselor of the soul), which have strengthened her to help other women.
Damaris Estrada, is a social worker born in Guatemala. Her biggest passion is working in training and promotion of women’s groups. She is currently a member of MUA and a member of the women’s group of the San Lorenzo Baptist Church. She has written several poems focusing on different topics, including the poem “In Memory of Them” used in this poetic action.
Teresa Molina, was born in Mexico. She is the mother of five children and grandmother of five grandchildren. She is an activist who fights for the rights of the immigrant and the worker. She has been a member of La Colectiva, and El Teatro Jornalero in San Francisco. She is currently a member of MUA.
Mirna Ruiz, is the mother of three children. She was born in Michoacán, Mexico. She worked for the Ministry of Health and did puppet theater in the Mexican state of Colima. In 1995, she arrived in southern California and worked as a babysitter and house cleaner. In 1996 she moved to the Bay Area and worked in warehouses and factories making various products. She is currently a member and volunteer in MUA.
Rosa-Linda Fregoso, presenter (October 6), is Professor of Latin American & Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the co-editor of Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in the Américas (co-edited with Cynthia Bejarano, Duke University Press, 2010)
Leslie Lopez, panel moderator (October 5), known as DIME is a Xicana Graffiti Writer, ARTivist, Mother of two, and 4th Generation Artist in her family. She began painting murals on the walls of East Oakland at the age of 9 and tagging graffiti on them when she was 11. Her passion and goal is to use art not only as a tool for social justice but as a tool for violence prevention, to reach young people, and entire communities and use art and Muralismo to cope, create change, empower and love!
FOR THOSE WHO ARE NO LONGER HERE
Accion Poetica with Mujeres Unidas Y Activas
October 5-6, 2018
Concept and Dramaturgy: Violeta Luna, Rubro Obsceno Collective
Director and Performer: Violeta Luna
Performers (members of Mujeres Unidas y Activas):
Damaris Estrada
Dulce Escalante
Teresa Molina
Mirna Ruiz
Text read by members of Mujeres Unidas y Activas:
Liliana Esparza
Jenny Barragan
Lourdes Reboyoso
Poem “In their Name” written by Damaris Estrada
Music: David Molina
Video: Roderick Steel
Lighting Design: Jose Maria Francos
POR TODAS: BASTA!!
4-5 de Marzo, 2016
“Aquellas Que Ya No Estan Aqui” es una obra teatral de espacio y acciones físicas a cargo de Violeta Luna, esta obra es dedicada a las mujeres que son violentadas, asesinadas, y denunciar los crímenes de género que caen constantemente en la total impunidad.
Al terminar la actuación performatica, invitamos al publico a una charla con la organización de Mujeres Unidas y Activas para hablar sobre la intersección de arte y la justicia social en relación con las constantes agresiones violentas y asesinatos de mujeres en México y en todo el mundo. Gratis botanas y bebidas.
For All Women: We’ve had Enough!!
March 4-5, 2016
A life performance installation by Violeta Luna, "For Those Who Are No Longer Here, dedicated to women who are murdered, and to denounce gender crimes which constantly fall in total impunity.
Following the performance a community gathering with Mujeres Unidas y Activas to talk about the intersection of arts and social justice in regards of violent assaults and murder of women in Mexico and around the world. Light reception will be provided.
Violeta Luna’s (Actress/Performance Artist/Activist) work explores the relationship between theater, performance art and community engagement. Working within a multidimensional space that allows for the crossing of aesthetic and conceptual borders, Luna uses her body as a territory to question and comment on social and political phenomena. Born in Mexico City, Luna obtained her graduate degree in Acting from the Centro Universitario de Teatro (UNAM,) and La Casa del Teatro. She has performed and taught workshops extensively throughout Latin America and Europe, as well as in Rwanda, Egypt, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and USA. While primarily working as a solo performer, she is also an associate artist of the San Francisco-based performance collectives La Pocha Nostra and Secos & Mojados. She is a Creative Capital and National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fellow, and a member of The Magdalena Project: International Network of Women in Contemporary Theatre. Significant works include: Requiem for a Lost Land, Frida, NK603: Action for Performer and e-Maiz, Apuntes sobre la Frontera and a series of collaborations with La Pocha Nostra. www.violetaluna.com
Roberto Varea’s stage work and research writing focuses on live performance as means of resistance and peacebuilding in the context of social conflict and state violence. His creative work includes direction and dramaturgy in community-based projects, and regular collaborations with Violeta Luna and David Molina, primarily as part of the performance collective Secos & Mojados.
David Molina (composer) is an award winning composer, multi-instrumentalist, sound artist/designer and recording engineer. He has created music and sound for theater, video, film, dance, performance art, radio, television, installation, and multimedia productions for the past 18 years. Recently he has been inventing and building instruments from salvaged materials, which become part of interactive, multimedia installations displayed at galleries and festivals, including a solo exhibit Transience: The Work of David Molina, at Asterisk Gallery SF (2013,) He has worked with numerous bay area theater companies, performing arts venues, educational institutions, museums, and with several regional companies and organizations throughout the U.S., and has performed and had his music featured internationally. He is a founding member of the interdisciplinary troupe Secos Y Mojados (2009 Creative Capital grantees). His musc and bands: Ghosts and Strings, Transient, Earthlike, and Impuritan are available on Resting Bell (Berlin,) Dorog Records (Peru,) Black Note Music (USA,) Distant Spore (USA,) or through his own D.I.Y. releases.
Roderick Steel has Master’s in Film from the University of Sao Paulo. He works with film, video, painting, performance and curating. Overriding concerns in his work include the journey images takes within other images, how images behave in different media and how they relate to each other, using photography and cinema as references. This applies to how images of the self are projected into the image world: through trance and other sublime experiences.
Rubro Obscene Collective is a theater group established in 2013 in São Paulo, Brazil. Composed exclusively by women artists of performance, dance and theater is intended to deal with questions about the legitimacy of women's rights in the Brazilian social context.
POR TODAS: BASTA!!
Concept / Performance / Props and Costumes by Violeta Luna
Music by David Molina
Video by Roderick Steel
Dramaturgy by Roberto Varea
Created in collaboration with Rubro Obscene Collective, São Paulo, Brazil