Repression and Disappearance in the ESMA (Argentina). Mapping Space and Memory

LARRALDE ARMAS, FLORENCIA

Valencia

Congreso; Reliving, Narrating, Showing, and Repairing the Mass Crimes through Space. Fifth International Conference on Perpetrators of Mass Violence; 2023

Universidad de Valencia

The Navy Mechanics School (ESMA) was the largest clandestine detention center that operated in Argentina throughout the entire dictatorship period, between 1976 and 1983. In this exposition, I will provide context on some of the stages of its transformation into a memorial site and its museographic intervention through a mapping of the space. Under the premise that space and memory are inseparable in the "authentic places" or "sites of horror," during its establishment as a memorial site, the most relevant discussions revolved around the transformation or material conservation of the space.