Silent march with VOCES de Guatemala en Berlín

»Mourning procession for loss of identity due to name change«

Meeting point: in front of nGbK, Oranienstr.25, 10999 Berlin
When: Saturday 15th of May, 17h

The migrant citizenship collective VOCES de Guatemala en Berlín calls for a silent protest and act of mourning to accompany the transportation of a tombstone documenting the bureaucratic act by which Guatemalan artist Marilyn Boror Bor changed her name from her indigenous Maya-Kaqchiquel origin to two surnames of Hispanic descent. According to Boror, this practice, which gave rise to her work “Edicto cambio de nombre” (2018), is one of “camouflage” to escape the discrimination and racism typical of the city. The tombstone, engraved with the artist’s name change to keep alive the memory of her indigenous surname, is exhibited inside the museo de la democracia in the nGbK gallery space, from which it will be collected for its transfer and burial in the cemetery and orchard that VOCES de Guatemala cultivates and cares for, and which has become a meeting place for various migrant citizenship collectives. 

About VOCES from Guatemala in Berlin: 

Migrant citizenship collective linked to the territory known as Guatemala based in Berlin. We articulate ourselves politically in the foolish attempt to maintain a living memory of the events that mark this territory that is both distant and close at the same time, since, by transgressing borders, distances have become elastic for us. With different actions we seek to build bridges with (collectives in) Guatemala, as well as to strengthen a basis of solidarity from abroad with activists and artists in Germany, making visible the points that connect these spaces that we inhabit and inhabit.

https://www.facebook.com/VOCESdeGuatemalaBerlin