Artistic Dissent in Ciudad Juarez. Collaborative Practices in Contexts of Violence

Ciudad Juarez, like many other Mexican regions, has been violated by multiple and varied criminal acts that have compounded the confusion and weariness of a society whose authorities have no public dimension, still drowned in their inability and surreal failure. This web is made more complex by its location on the United States border, which also turns it into a bridge-city, a space for nomadism and transit of residents, ideas, contacts, etc. In this context, while the political and economic elites are attacking the common good, citizens focus their efforts on nourishing liveability and urban cohesion, on making sense of the experience and collective memory, and on taking over the centers of Ciudad Juarez to make it more than just an empty stage. Within these movements of reconstruction, various groups and artistic agents are taking the metropolis as a project and a base for their strategies; they are integrating new human and civic dimensions through sensitivity. This paper explores the different tactics of these devices for urban activation.