El Salvador, San Miguel Province
James Nachtwey, American, born 1948
1984
Digital print
Width: 39 in. (99.1 cm)
Height: 26 in. (66 cm)
Image: 26 × 39 in. (66 × 99.1 cm)
Sheet: 26 × 39 in. (66 × 99.1 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Mrs. Harvey P. Hood W'18 Fund
2021.6.36
Geography
Place Imaged: El Salvador, Central America
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Label
Estas fotografías de James Nachtwey capturan los impactos la guerra en la vida de los salvadoreños. Durante la guerra civil salvadoreña (1980-1992), el Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), una coalición de organizaciones de izquierda, luchó contra las élites, el ejército y el estado apoyado por los EE. UU. Usando tácticas de guerrilla, el FMLN buscó acabar con la desigualdad extrema. Al final, aproximadamente 80.000 personas murieron en manos de las fuerzas gubernamentales y la guerra no produjo mucho más que una sociedad devastada sumida en una democracia débil y una paz insustancial. Aproximadamente el 25% de la población del país huyó, estableciendo comunidades en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Italia y Australia. Desde entonces, la emigración salvadoreña no ha cesado.
James Nachtwey’s photographs capture the impacts of war on Salvadorans. During the Salvadoran Civil War (1980–92), the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, a coalition of left-wing organizations) fought against elites, military, and a government backed by the United States. Using guerrilla tactics, the FMLN sought to overturn extreme inequality. In the end, approximately 80,000 people died at the hands of government forces and the war yielded little beyond a war-torn society mired by weak democracy and an insubstantial peace. Roughly 25% of the country’s population fled, establishing communities in the United States, Canada, Italy, and Australia. Since then, Salvadoran out-migration has not ceased.
From the 2022 exhibition Bolas de Fuego: Culture and Conflict in Central America, curated by Jorge E. Cuéllar, Assistant Professor of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies
Course History
LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022
LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022
LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022
Exhibition History
Bolas de Fuego: Culture and Conflict in Central America, Teaching exhibition, Guest curator Jorge E. Cuellar, Class of 1967 Gallery and the LeWitt Wall, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 28-September 25, 2022.
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