ART INSIGHTS: ART THAT REMEMBERS

Once read a quote by Edmund Burke on the sentiments of tragedy which says, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." A prominent event that echo this very ethos is that of the holocaust. Centuries has passed and we are often caught in the threat of forgetting. But forget we shall not as there's just too much pain to be forgotten, and with the efforts of many to make sure we remember, through art, books, memorial museums and even the internet, we do remember and must remember.

Likened to these many efforts, this pivotal body of work by Oscar Munoz on 'The Disappeared' project, we see art playing its role in questioning the very essence of our humanity with relation to non-action with a different horror. "In the 1970's, those considered threats to their country were kidnapped, tortured, and killed by their own military, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. The tragedy arises to the sad fact that the cause of their disappearance was never known. They merely disappeared. Art in this work is seen to fight the amnesia of forgetting what was once known as horror in the lives of many who had been taken at birth from those who opposed the government and adopted into military families in Latin America." - North Dakota Museum of Art.











Munoz would paint the portraits of these disappeared lives unto a cemented pavement and as time progresses, air would dry up the water and these portraits would disappear. Simple, yet powerful. Do take a look at the video below too and may we be challenged to never forget regardless. In the context of our nation of Malaysia, do wish that there was something like this done with our May 1969 event. Much to reconcile, much to remember.