Until dignity becomes a custom 2019
EXHIBITION ON FEMINIST PROTESTS IN MEXICO CITY
Title: War
Hasta que la dignidad se haga costumbre” (Until dignity becomes a custom) is the powerful phrase with which Estela Hernández, an indigenous Hñahñú woman, ends her speech to the Mexican state during its public apology for the unjust imprisonment of her mother and two other women. In her address, Estela denounced state repression, lack of justice, insecurity, discrimination, and racism. Today, I have seen this phrase embraced by feminist movements as a symbol of struggle and resistance.
On August 16, 2019, the streets and the Victoria Alada, the iconic monument also known as the Angel of Independence, were painted with colors as part of a feminist march demanding justice for gender-based violence in Mexico City. The next morning, the city was shocked—not by the thousands of women raped and murdered, nor the impunity allowing such crimes, but by the visual interventions made on the monument.
In the Victorias Aladas series, I brought to life the four goddesses at the base of the Monument to Independence, personifying the most powerful slogans written during the feminist march. These images expose the hypocrisy of a country that defends monuments but not women's lives. The Victoria Alada, now marked with scars, reveals the wounds of a nation that has yet to confront its reality. Each goddess holds the texture of the monument’s materials, like various types of marble and stone, with phrases inscribed on their bodies from the graffiti that adorned the Victoria Alada. During the exhibition, I installed the four figures in public spaces using the paste-up technique, revealing what lies hidden behind the walls surrounding the monument. The audience was invited to explore the murals during the opening, offering a direct interpretation of the events.
Justice with Glitter is a series of diptychs portraying the "during" and "after" of the march. These pieces were printed in color and mounted on black-and-white photographs from my personal archive, documenting feminist marches over the past five years. During the exhibition, I encouraged the public to intervene with the works. The result became a representation of the polarization still present in Mexican society regarding gender-based violence, where some comments supported the actions depicted in the images, while others disapproved. Thus, each piece transformed into a living archive, layering the history of the feminist movement in Mexico City.
Take a Look
Documentation of the exhibition
Material with which the public was invited to intervene in the work
This exhibition presents a collection of photographs by Cerrucha, forming an archive of moments captured during various feminist demonstrations, most of which took place in Mexico City. These images are part of the artist’s work over the past four years, stemming from decades of feminist activism in response to ongoing femicides and violence against women and feminized bodies. The exhibition highlights the movement’s impact on public spaces and prevailing social narratives.
The photographs of feminist marches reveal the disruption of moral, historical, and aesthetic paradigms, constructing new frameworks of meaning. If monuments commemorate events and shape public spaces, their transgression becomes essential in challenging and dismantling the dominant values of our culture.
The recent protests at El Ángel de la Independencia in Mexico City—where a large number of women mobilized against femicides and gender-based violence—serve as a powerful testament to the deep contradictions of our patriarchal society. These contradictions expose the State’s prioritization of the patrimonial and national body over taking concrete action against violence toward feminized bodies.
The exhibition unfolds as a journey from the shared public space—the streets, the walls—into the gallery of La Buena Estrella. Here, images carry profound meanings and enduring marks of protest, serving as vehicles of expression and catharsis, inscribed on bodies, buildings, and the urban landscape.
These works compel us not only to reflect and raise awareness but, more importantly, to act against the invisible and unaddressed violence of a hostile and oppressive environment—one that demands bold, inclusive interventions capable of dismantling the patriarchy from within.
Yunuén Sariego
Curator
