PHOTOFILE | PORTFOLIO
MAYA WATANABE
LIMINAL
Featured by Marianna Tsionki
In Liminal (2019), Maya Watanabe explores the state of transition, where those impacted by Peru’s armed conflict linger in a state of legal ambiguity, hovering on the verge of being acknowledged and represented as subject persons. Filmed at mass graves’ excavations in Nueva Villa Paraiso village, Huánuco and the community of Tastabamba, Ayacucho, the work navigates the legacy of Peru's internal conflict, recognising the profound human toll and recent attempts to identify victims striving to bring closure and healing to affected communities.
Since 1980, Peru has grappled with a tumultuous ongoing political violence period between the Government of Peru military forces and two groups; the insurgent guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru. During the conflict, human rights organizations accused the army of systematic abuses, including massacres, disappearances, torture and rape. The armed conflict therefore has left a profound mark on the nation's history with a staggering casualty of 69,280 people dying or disappearing. The Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission officially recognized the period of conflict from 1980 to 2000, bookended by Sendero Luminoso's declaration of war and the fall of former President Alberto Fujimori. However, despite efforts to demarcate the timeline, the aftermath of the conflict continues to haunt Peru to this day, with 16,000 individuals remain missing, and 6,000 mass graves remain unexhumed, waiting for closure and justice.
In response to this ongoing tragedy, current efforts to identify and exhume victims buried in mass graves aim to restore their humanity, establish their legal status, and provide closure to their families. Forensic archaeologists and anthropologists play a crucial role in this process, working to restore the identities of the victims through meticulous fieldwork and laboratory analysis. During this transitional phase, the remains exist in a legal limbo between being classified as "missing persons" and officially declared deceased. Sweeping across the landscape, Watanabe’s film becomes a reflection of this liminal state through imagery that blurs the boundaries between human remnants and the surrounding landscape. We can certainly think of this landscape as an archive of past conflicts. While inherently corporeal, the film presents these elements in a state of flux, mirroring their liminal nature.
Maya Watanabe is a visual artist and filmmaker who lives in Amsterdam. She currently teaches at the Rietveld Academie, and is a PhD candidate at the Department of Visual Cultures - Goldsmiths, University of London. Watanabe’s video installations have been exhibited at, among other places: De Pont Museum (NL), MAXXI Museum (IT); MALI – Museo de Arte de Lima (PE); Rose Art Museum (US); La Casa Encendida (ES); Palais de Tokyo (FR); Kyoto Art Center (JP); Das Fridericianum (DE); and Matadero (ES). Her work has been shown at various art biennials including Videobrasil, 13th Havana Biennial (CU), Asian Art Biennial (TW), 2nd Wuzhen Contemporary Art Exhibition (CN) and Beijing Biennial (CN). She has previously worked as audiovisual art director for stage productions in Peru, Spain, Austria and Italy.
