BEHIND THE MASKS - MEXICO CITY 2014

In the late nineties, with the massive deportation of gang members in the US, gang structures and the inherent violence were imported to Central America. This resulted in their integration to the smaller traditional local gangs, contributing to the expansion of the Eighteen Street Gang and the Mara Salvatrucha.

 

In one decade, they gained strength and grew at an impressive rate, resulting in astounding increase in criminality and murders. This has forced thousands to flee, either to leave the ranks of these criminal groups or because of threats or actual attacks. These displaced have joined the great flow of people that cross the “corridor of death”, the migratory path going from Central America to the US, via Mexico. This displacement involves more than just physical movement; it implies social and sentimental convulsions, all part of a story that is rarely heard.

 

From the thousands of stories lived by the displaced, Sin Palabras (non verbal communication) team met several migrants from Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. In the halls of Tochán House, a shelter in Mexico City receiving asylum-seeking people, we worked with them to listen Without Words (Sin Palabras). By articulating meditation exercises, theatrical expression, dance and drawing, each one expressed himself or herself through a character, whose face was the mask.

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All the work made during the workshop, including the drawings, masks and the performance videos were presented. We seeked to give visibility to these people and the situation that others, like them, live currently. We aspired to capture the silenced stories, “The story behind the masks” and raise awareness of this issue.