«The question of the representation of peoples, of the «common people»,
is both aesthetic and political.»
COMMUNITY BASED AND COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH + DOCUMENTARY
BAYAUCA, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, 2018-TODAY
MEMORIES OF BAYAUCA
How can we prevent places like Bayauca, a town of 450 inhabitants with constant population decline, from being forgotten when they cease to exist?
Based on a community diagnosis, this research project aims to address this question by providing various devices that counteract the eroding power of time, seeking to capture in a perennial way those stories that bayauqueros and bayauqueras tell themselves to find each other in their collective identity.
During my time in Bayauca, one of the old railway towns that today are in processes of progressive disappearance in Argentina, I developed a collaborative and community-based research project. During this process we examined notions of memory, history, belonging and identity of this small rural town. Three devices were developed that have been transferred to different people of the town, who today are responsible for their continuity.
AUDIOVISUAL DOCUMENTARY
Interviews and records of self-interviews among the elderly of Bayauca, covering the personal and collective memories of the town, their childhoods, their family projects and their present.
GENEALOGIES
Collaboration with students and the educational community of the local high school. Each student investigates the history of their family related to the history of the town.
MEMORIES OF PLAY
Collaborative research with kindergarten teachers, families and children about games and songs of previous generations. Creation of a community archive of children's songs and games.
