Prizes in the Colombian Victims’ Memory Photography Contest

10/03/2012

On October 2, an award ceremony honored the winners of the amateur photography contest on memory, called “Images to Resist Oblivion,” organized by the Center for Historical Memory and the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).

This event, which was part of the inauguration of the 5th Memory Week in Colombia, included an exhibition of the three winning series of photographs. The photographers and representatives of the communities portrayed in the exhibit were in attendance.

The panel of judges for the contest includes Germán Rey, director of the Ático Center; photographer Jesús Abad Colorado; Catalina Ruiz, curator of Art and History at the National Museum; María Camilo Moreno, head of ICTJ’s Colombia program, and María del Mar Pizarro, daughter of Carlos Pizarro.

View photo galleries from the three winning submissions:

First Prize: Rubiela's New Land

Image removed.     These photographs show the life of Rubiela, a survivor of the Naya massacre, who lives in the community of Kitek Kiwe, a settlement in Cauca inhabited by 40 displaced families. Dignity of victims of the conflict are reflected through portraits of Rubiela, her family, and her home.
By **Mateo Jaramillo Ortega**, a student of communications at the Universidad de la Sabana. **View gallery >>**

Second Prize: Mampuján: 11 Years of Resistance and Remembrance for Life and Dignity

Image removed.     A portrayal of a symbolic pilgrimage: inhabitants of New Mampuján travel to Old Mampuján carrying their belongings and sewing machines, and reconstruct their former lives on the remnants of their burned houses. Nearly 200 families that were terrorized by the paramilitaries displaced from their homes in 2000.
By **Rosángela Roncallo Bayuelo**, education coordinator for the Montes de María Línea 21 Public Relations Collective. **View gallery >>**

Third Prize: Chengue: 10 Years After the Massacre

Image removed.     This series documents the day the inhabitants of El Chengue returned to their land to commemorate the events that forced them to leave their homes. On January 17, 2001, paramilitaries killed 27 people, and dozens of families were displaced.
By **Diana Maldonado Medina**, public relations specialist.**View gallery >>**