| p>From the North end of Bolívar Plaza, through | | | | a half," Diettes told me, "I found one thing |
| crowded rows of Colombian soldiers, I see a | | | | common to all was that the families would follow |
| 5-foot tall photograph of a woman's face. Her | | | | the vultures." She explains that instead of a |
| eyes are pensive, transfixed in defeat, and her | | | | harbinger of death, the vulture becomes a symbol |
| wrinkles narrate a consternation that has | | | | of hope to many of these families. Upon spotting |
| permanently carved her expression. A few days | | | | one in the sky, they will run to see if the bird has |
| later, having lunch in a restaurant called | | | | found the body of someone they know. So for |
| Jugueteria-toy store-I find out that her name is | | | | the third piece of A Punta de Sangre, Diettes had |
| Ana de Dios, and her brother has been killed, | | | | a vulture captured, brought to her studio, and |
| another victim of La Violencia. | | | | photographed. In the photograph, she has |
| Erika Diettes is the Colombian artist behind de | | | | somehow managed to capture a look of sorrow |
| Dios' photograph, which is one of three pieces in | | | | and shame in the bird, who she named Lucho. She |
| the artist's latest work, A Punta de Sangre (By | | | | explains the intrigue in interpreting this animal, |
| the force of the bloodshed). Contemporarily, La | | | | typically associated with the negative side of |
| Violencia refers to the overall brutality of civil | | | | death, as something more positive, allowing the |
| conflict in Colombia, which originates from an era | | | | vulture to become an almost angelic symbol to |
| of political unrest and bloodshed during the late | | | | "show people the way." Diettes points out how, in |
| 1940s. Such a broad, overused expression easily | | | | her photograph of Lucho, his beak is pointed |
| obscures the pain the term encompasses. | | | | downward, resembling a prayer position. "In the |
| "Sometimes people get kidnapped because of | | | | photograph, it is like he's saying, this is my job. I |
| money. Sometimes it's because of power. And | | | | have to do this," Diettes says. "He is like the |
| sometimes it's just politics," Diettes says as she | | | | executioner asking the victims for forgiveness." |
| sits down and pulls out a thick black journal filled | | | | An Anthropology graduate with a BFA in |
| with photos, notes, quotations, and memories. | | | | Communications, Diettes studied at Universidad de |
| In de Dios' case, no one knows why her brother | | | | Los Andes, a prestigious college in Bogotá. "I |
| went missing or why he was killed, and that's true | | | | always wondered, how do people survive |
| with the majority of these occurrences in | | | | violence? How do you live with it? That's what |
| Colombia. While most of the Colombian conflict is | | | | made me want to study anthropology." She |
| generalized as paramilitary vs. guerilla warfare, | | | | continues, explaining that the violence people |
| most of the time, the violence has nothing to do | | | | suffer eventually transforms them. "You can see |
| with whether a person is affiliated with either | | | | it in their eyes," she says, pointing out a young |
| group. Diettes explains that usually, no one knows | | | | man's face in her overflowing journal. The original |
| why their family members are kidnapped. "They | | | | inspiration for her work was a newspaper article, |
| could be recruited, it could be vengeance, it could | | | | chronicling the struggle of one victim's family. "I |
| be anything" Diettes says. De Dios' found out | | | | had taken photographs of clothing before, but for |
| about her brother's murder from a witness during | | | | fun. Then I read this article and put it together." |
| a town meeting. "He couldn't remember if [they] | | | | So she decided to have lunch with a friend who |
| had chopped up the body or burned it, but he | | | | knew some of the victims' families personally. She |
| knew he was killed," Diettes explains in a succinct | | | | proposed her project-that she would like to take |
| but gentle tone. The reality is disturbing, but it's a | | | | articles of victims' clothing and photograph them in |
| reality de Dios has to acknowledge. | | | | water. He asked Erika how serious she was, and |
| Typically, the bodies of the victims are | | | | then the two went to his office where Diettes |
| disregarded in the rivers of Colombia, the | | | | met one of the victim's mothers. "I told her |
| turbulent waters sweeping them away. "Ana said | | | | [about] my plans. She was skeptical and said, 'you |
| every time she saw a river, she would search for | | | | better come next Saturday'. So I did." Soon |
| his body," Diettes tells me, explaining that because | | | | enough, many families started sending Diettes |
| there is relatively no hope for finding the victims | | | | boxes of clothing, which she would promptly |
| alive, their families only seek to give them a | | | | return after photographing, letting the people |
| proper burial. Rivers almost become cemeteries | | | | know she was serious. "Every little thing," Diettes |
| for the victims, which is why Diettes uses water | | | | asserts, "I gave back." |
| as a symbol throughout her work. In the second | | | | Many times, however, these families are forced |
| piece of A Punta de Sangre, a panel of | | | | out of their homes and simply have nothing left, |
| translucent water is used, adding a calming sense | | | | like the woman Diettes met who had nothing left |
| of reassurance to the exhibit as a whole. "I use | | | | from her son but a tree he planted. "She brought |
| the water as a metaphor of memory," she says. | | | | me two little branches wrapped in a napkin." |
| "Life is water. Life flows on. It is cleansing, | | | | Because the woman realized Erika typically used |
| purifying." The photograph is reminiscent of Río | | | | clothing in her work, she asked, "does that mean |
| Abajo, or Drifting Away, Diettes' original exhibit, in | | | | my son is not worth anything to you?" Diettes, of |
| which she borrowed articles of clothing belonging | | | | course, photographed the branches. Undoubtedly |
| to the victims, and photographed the shirts, | | | | the memorial held in East Antioquia proved that |
| shoes, and military uniforms in water, preserving | | | | Diettes' endeavor is not about what Río Abajo |
| their memories and addressing the human aspect | | | | is worth to her, but to the families. Erika's work |
| of an issue that has become so politicized. | | | | provides a social purpose that functions beyond |
| Warfare between the paramilitary and the guerilla | | | | addressing a topic of unrest in modern Colombian |
| is so vague and seemingly pointless that the | | | | society; it provides a representation of the people |
| conflict is comparable to inner city gang warfare. | | | | that have collectively come to be known as Los |
| The fighting continues not because of political | | | | Desaparecidos-the missing. The photographs give |
| differences, but out of revenge for the | | | | their loved ones fulfillment in knowing that |
| consequences of war. Diettes explains that one | | | | someone was interested in validating their son, |
| family had a son in the paramilitary and another | | | | daughter, brother, or sister, and this fulfillment |
| son in the guerilla. "It is easy to be the victim, and | | | | perhaps makes it easier to continue the mourning |
| it is easy to become the one who inflicts the | | | | process in a natural way. |
| pain," Diettes says. "I'm not interested in the | | | | Ana's face, in the middle of bustling Bolívar Plaza |
| politics. I'm interested in Ana's pain." | | | | and next to the deep, concerted eyes of a |
| From her quaint studio in Bogotá, I watch a video | | | | vulture, beg the viewer's gaze-including my |
| interpretation of Río Abajo, filmed in the rural | | | | own-as an ice cream vendor tells me he's been |
| areas of Colombia where much of this violence | | | | displaced by La Violencia. There's no way of telling |
| takes place. Even from her 15" inch Macbook, the | | | | whether he's sincere or just using the crisis to |
| photographs are haunting. | | | | evoke my sympathy and spare change. At any |
| The video captures one of her most important | | | | rate, I give him both, knowing that many |
| feats. In order to allow the victims' families some | | | | impoverished Colombians register themselves with |
| sort of memorial, Diettes went to East Antioquia, | | | | the government as displaced because doing so |
| a State known for being one of the most | | | | makes them more qualified for funding. Like the |
| dangerous in Colombia, and displayed all of the | | | | description next to A Punta de Sangre reads, the |
| pieces that were part of Río Abajo. Normally, | | | | stories behind La Violencia are lost as "a short |
| these pieces are printed on 5-foot tall glass, like | | | | note before entertainment gossips section." But |
| the three in Bolívar Plaza, and positioned so that | | | | the stories are also lost in politics, as the issue |
| the viewer must walk around every one of the | | | | becomes a means for people to receive quicker |
| glass panels. Designed to resemble tombstones, | | | | government funding. And they're also lost in |
| the exhibit is intended to give the viewer the | | | | phrases. Phrases like, Los Desaparecidos,which |
| sense of walking through a cemetery. But in East | | | | amass everyone's disappeared relative or friend in |
| Antioquia, Diettes wanted to provide the families | | | | one simple and concise expression. Even using the |
| a memorial, not an exhibit. So she was intent on | | | | word stories diminishes the very essence of its |
| including each photo she had taken, making sure | | | | function in the situation. It's a word that is |
| everyone had the opportunity to remember the | | | | certainly lacking. It lacks the embroidery of a |
| person they lost. One hundred and fifty | | | | modest pink dress, the epaulets on a soldier's |
| photographs, lit faintly by candlelight, were | | | | uniform, and the school crest ironed on a red |
| suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned | | | | sweater of someone that died too young. Maybe |
| community hall. | | | | the shortcoming of words is what partially inspired |
| As the video reeled on, I couldn't help but notice a | | | | Diettes to use photographs to communicate. "The |
| shot of vultures drawing circles in the sky above | | | | pain cannot be expressed through words," she |
| a seemingly calm river. "After traveling a year and | | | | says. "Words limit some things. |