Naming the Rose
An Interactive Installation Dedicated to the Girls and Women Victims of Juarez
The title of my installation was inspired by the words of Bernard of Morlay, a 12th century monk: "stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus." All (these) departed things leave (only, or at least) pure names behind them."
This is a reflection on two pilgrimages. One was to the barrios and maquilladoras bordering the U.S. at Juarez , Mexico . The other was to the Vatican . Both places were complete in their sensory inundation: one raw and Bacchanal, and the other highly polished and Appollian. In both places, I felt the depth of human limitation and tragedy, one openly festering, the other commingled with sacred rituals and transcendent art. The most profound sensation was a ponderous silencing of the female both in body and in spirit.
This installation is a memorial to the over 400 girls and women who were slain since 1993 in the Jaurez region. The mothers of these mostly young women wept as they testified to the painful journey from the initial trauma that their daughter was missing to the excruciating dealings with police, the media, and the church whose assumptions of "bad girls" undermined investigations. In this space, sensory and conceptual ideas are intermingled from both places and visitors are invited to participate in honoring the victims.
The Anne T. Kmieck Gallery