Inauguration of the Temporary Exhibition Being Women at ESMA

On Thursday, March 14, 2019, the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory inaugurated the temporary exhibition BEING WOMEN at ESMA – Testimonies to Look Again alongside survivors Ana Testa, Graciela Garcia Romero and Ana Maria Soffiantini. The event included an open conversation between Elizabeth Jelin, Social Sciences researcher at CONICET and Patricia Violi, professor of semiotics and researcher at the University of Bologna, Italy. The discussion was moderated by Alejandra Naftal, director of the Museum and Alejandra Dandan, journalist and curator of the temporary exhibition.

Other participants in the presentation included: federal judge Sergio Torres; former federal judge Maria del Carmen Roqueta; former prosecutor of the ESMA Mega-Case Mercedes Soiza Reilly; Carolina Varsky, human rights attorney in Case 1270; María Freier and Daniel Tarnopolsky with members of the Advisory Board of the Area for Memory and Human Rights, survivor Alfredo “Mantecol” Ayala and María Adela Antokoletz from Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo – Founders.

The 107 visitors that day included Cecilia Brizzio and Karina Bearzi, from the Court Secretary of the ESMA Mega-Case in the 12th Federal Court; Verónica Torrás from Memoria Abierta; María José Guembe, Member of the Executive Committee of Memoria Abierta on behalf of CELS; Soledad Rotman, Administrative Technical Head of the National Human Rights Secretary; journalists Mariana Carbajal, Ailin Bullentini and Luciana Bertoia; Celeste Adamoli, Cecilia Flaschland from Education and Memory, Mirta Marina and Marcelo Zelarrayán, of Comprehensive Sexual Education of the Ministry of Education; Fabiana Rousseaux, Director of the Civil Association Clinical Territories of Memory; Sara Pagola Aizpiri, from the delegation of the Basque Government in Argentina and Mercosur; Jeanne Simon, Laura Weiss and Billerey Vincent, from the French Embassy in Argentina; Verónica Caamaño, General Director of Human Rights of the Tigre City Hall; Eugenia Carbone, Auschwitz Institute’s Director for Latin American Programs; Mauro Zungri,  advisor to the legislator Victoria Montenegro; photographer Mónica Hasenberg; Liliana Furió, from the collective Historias Desobedientes; Romina Martínez, from the Evita Museum; Antonella Costa, actress and star of the film Garage Olimpo; Susana Skura and Alejandra Oberti, authors of Y nadie quería saber; members of the team of psychologists from the Ulloa Center; workers of the Cultural Center Haroldo Conti and of the Area for Memory and the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights.

The activity began at the front door of the building, facing the glass cover that features pictures of the people who disappeared at ESMA. During his opening speech, federal judge Sergio Torres mentioned that massacres and genocides have occurred various times throughout history and countries have resolved them in many different ways. Argentina chose the courts as the mechanism to confront what had occurred. ESMA was one of the places where some of the most abhorrent crimes in human history were committed, including those against sexual integrity. It’s in this aspect that we can observe some judicial resolutions that later allowed us to carry out investigations in this regard. The challenges were multiple, it was necessary to separate offenses against sexual integrity from the crimes of illegitimate deprivation of liberty and torture, which were historically unified. In this part of the case and trial, no names were mentioned to prevent from re-victimize survivors, while also being able to continue the investigation. The resolution included the reconsideration of these crimes within the cases, now regarded as crimes against humanity as they were not isolated cases.

After a run-through of the new temporary exhibit, a public conversation took place in what used to be the Golden Room of the former Officers’ Club, featuring screenings of messages from survivors Adriana Clemente, Adriana Friszman and Liliana Andrés, who could not be present.

Professor Patrizia Violi started the conversation by mentioning that history is always contemporary: we talk about the past from the perspective of the present. It is a continuous construction that changes every time we look back at the past. The exhibition has a very intelligent manner of communicating this; for example, the fact that even a few years ago no one thought to use both masculine and feminine prepositions when making the exhibition. The second interesting thing in the exhibit is the panel at the entrance that states “When a Museum Doesn’t Speak”. Museums, like all texts, speak about something, but they cannot speak about everything. Therefore, there is a lot more that remains invisible, and it is very important for a museum to constantly ask itself “What are the things we haven’t been able to see these past four years and what can we see today?”. Before her words, her colleague Elizabeth Jelin said: How do we look today at something that happened so little ago, such as the creation of this museum? Four or five years have passed, and the present day poses questions; a question not aimed at the memory of the past but at the memory of the dictatorship, embodied in this Museum that was created five years ago. All history is contemporary, and also a bit anachronistic. We ask things today that perhaps we should have asked some time ago, but we do it today.

In this regard, Alejandra Naftal added that “This is a public area, it belongs to the State, and we have to be very careful about how we transmit this voice for all people while respecting the victims. [Creating this exhibition meant] discussions on intimacy, respect, [making sure] that these testimonies are not heard with random unintentional music, but in an intimate space where they can be heard [respectfully].”

In the end, Brazilian student Paula Rosanni said a few words, demanding justice for the feminist councilor and sociologist Marielle Franco one year after her assassination in Rio de Janeiro.