Paper Short Abstract:

In Argentina, feminist and gender-divergent groups use living archives like Ni Una Menos (2017) to challenge dominant memory narratives, address gender-based violence, and collectivize mourning for femicides. These projects reframe history, reclaim public space, and confront historical and contemporary violence.

Paper Abstract:

The issue of memory in Argentina is situated within a context of sociopolitical struggles deeply influenced by human rights movements. These struggles have radically altered the way the nation understands its past, positioning archives and artistic activism at the heart of the construction of a dynamic collective memory. Feminist and gender-divergent groups have been key actors in this reconfiguration, re-centering the narratives of marginalized groups within the memory discourse. We explore these issues through the living archive project Ni Una Menos (2017), which embodies the movement against gender-based violence, triggering collective awareness and massive mobilizations. This living archive project (Bourcier, 2020) also serves as a means of collectivizing mourning in relation to femicides, ensuring that women are not forgotten and preventing dominant discourses from overshadowing emotional narratives. Through collective and artistic actions, groups and various actors challenge dominant narratives and oppose often-naturalized forms of violence, re-appropriating public space and making visible memories and bodies that have long been stigmatized, especially during the military dictatorship of Videla (1976-1983). The creation of archives such as the Proyecto Ni Una Menos or the Archivo de la Memoria Trans (2014) revitalizes the activist strategies of the 1990s in Argentina, denouncing present-day issues. We will propose an analysis of the creation of living archives and their circulation as a form of collective mourning.