Mexico City families use engravings to honor the disappeared

In Mexico City, families of the disappeared participated in the exhibition ‘Grabados contra el olvido’ (Engravings against Oblivion) to preserve the memory of their missing loved ones. Held near the Glorieta de las y los Desaparecidos to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the event showcased engravings created by family members during community workshops.

The initiative, coordinated by visual artist Alfredo López Casanova with support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, brought together search collectives from Guadalajara, Monterrey, Guerrero, and Mexico City. Participants used art to recreate the facial features and gestures of their relatives, serving as both an exercise in collective memory and a demand for justice amidst a humanitarian crisis involving more than 135,000 missing persons in Mexico.