Perpetually Settling Dust 
Mónica Camin

Monica Camin’s installation, “El Rezo/Perpetually Settling Dust” made its debut at Sala Políglota during Memories, the ‘aceNITE event held on May 20, 2015.

The exhibit featured a human-shaped fabric piece, doubling as a screen for a video collaboratively produced with Kaloian Santos Cabrera, a Cuban photojournalist. The installation merged documentary and poetic imagery with the continuous soundscape of the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. This video not only heightened the solemn and ceremonial atmosphere but also delved into the residual impacts of cultural trauma.

Throughout the artist’s residency, a series of interactive sessions unfolded, engaging over 20 participants who contributed by embroidering the expansive cloth with the names of the desaparecidos—individuals who “disappeared” (vanished) during the Argentine dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s. These collective efforts added a poignant layer to Camin’s exploration about the enduring effects of historical events, fostering a profound connection between the artwork and the shared memories of the community.

ARTIST STATEMENT

El Rezo/ Perpetually Settling Dust is both a meditation on the repeated atrocities of state terrorism and a prayer for a different future.

After a decade of work centered on the Holocaust, this piece shifts attention to my native Argentina to dissect the cultural genocide that took place under a military dictatorship, referred to as the “National Reorganization Process” that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. During this time human rights were ignored. 30,000 people—known as the desaparecidos—went missing; an estimated 500 babies born in captivity were given up for adoption, and left with no real identity.

This piece examines the residual effects of cultural trauma. In an exploration of expression in the form of community and healing through creation, the Argentine community was invited to participate in the embroidering of names of the desaparecidos.