RETABLO. ENOUGH TORTURE

Enough, no to torture Year: 2006 Dimensions: Open: 38.5 x 85 x 15 cm / Closed: 38.5 x 43 x 15 cm The first thing that stands out about this retablo is the absence of decoration on its exterior; the natural grain of the varnished wood recalls a coffin, foreshadowing the powerful images found inside. The triangular crown bears a red inscription reading "Enough, no to torture!", headed by the print of a hand. When the doors are opened we enter a scene of horrific events. The retablo is a three-dimensional expression of what was fixed in a prior drawing. The drawing was made collaboratively in Chungui with Antonia Ramírez Orihuela, who witnessed the cruel and slow murder of her son, Emerson Ramírez, at the hands of the military. On the inside of the box's lids, a fragment of this testimony can be read, describing how the victim was dismembered and forced to eat his own intimate parts. Only after an agonizing torture did they end his life by slitting his throat. In the left corner, the other detainees (including Antonia) are depicted, watching in terror and helplessness the torture and murder under a sky as red as the blood pouring from the victim's wounds.