Alicia-Rae Light reviews the thought-provoking ‘400 Women’ exhibition in Shoreditch, London; a display in remembrance of the 175 of the estimated 400 women brutally murdered, raped, beheaded, tortured, held captive and bodily decapitated in the Mexican border town of Cuidad Juárez between 1993-2003…

Rusty drainpipes and hooks are dangling from the old exposed brick walls. On the rough cement ground, etched in chalk, are the numbers, in no particular order, one to 175.

'... these killings aren’t drug cartel related – the women were murdered with the sole motivation being that they were women...'

Look up and you’re standing face-to-face 175 of the estimated 400 women brutally murdered, raped, beheaded, tortured, held captive and bodily decapitated in the Mexican border town of Cuidad Juárez between 1993-2003.

Their faces fill the hallways of the Shoreditch Town Hall basement.

A brochure handed out at the start of the exhibit corresponds with the numbers on the floor. On it are the names, dates, and ages of the victims, how they were killed or when they went missing.

Bear in mind that the number 400 represents figures from 1993-2002 off a report released by Amnesty International. But just this year, 300 more women were reported missing in Cuidad Juárez, a city of 1.5 million people in the state of Chihuahua.

Although one might assume due to the recent reports from the region, these killings aren’t drug cartel related – the women were murdered with the sole motivation being that they were women...

Though, the real reason for the murders aren’t clear, the possible theories range from serial killers and organ fielding to the brutal possibility of sexual violence tourism, according to an exhibit representative. 

The ‘400 Women’exhibit is the reaction of visual artist Tamsyn Challenger after five years of work. After hearing of Amnesty International’s report on the ‘femicide’ in Juárez, she travelled to the city in 2006 for BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour programme to speak with some of the victim’s family members.

While there, she received a collection of postcards from Consuela Valenzuela, whose 17 year old daughter, Julieta Marleng Gonzalez Valenzuela went missing in March 2001.

'It’s completely silent in the basement and you can almost hear the voices of these women whispering as you read, “How could you,” and “May tears comfort you,” scribbled across and sewn into canvases'

Consuela asked Challenger to show the stack of postcards to everyone she knew - ‘400 Women’ was her response. She asked 175 artists to create a portrait of one victim by learning their individual story and by trying to put themselves into their shoes.

Some were provided with forensic accounts of the murders, and some with simply their name.The portraits are a celebration of each woman’s life, as well as an in-your-face reminder that gender violence is a very real thing. All of the images are reminiscent to the size of a Mexican altarpiece (14″x10″) known as a ‘retablo,’ something that is still a very significant piece of Catholic imagery in Mexican culture.

According to an interview with Challenger by The Londonist, she tried to ‘link up the images with the artist, such as matching initials, or ages, or a particular photograph that is very bright and relates to an artist who uses such colours.’

It’s completely silent in the basement and you can almost hear the voices of these women whispering as you read, “How could you,” and “May tears comfort you,” scribbled across and sewn into canvases.

Each portrait is in it’s own unique style and medium from cross-stitch embroidery, collage, stencil, pastel, metals, personal objects, glass, chalk, acrylic paint, and oil paint.

Artist Ali Hutchinson used human hair to sew the name of Alejandra Janeth Diaz Sanchez, a 13-year-old girl who was raped and beheaded in September 2005, onto a canvas placed next to a shattered old chimney.

Part of the perfectly located exhibit is in a darkened room. There is a light box with the X-ray of Laura Ivette Leon Chavez’s feet. She was a 13 year old girl murdered in May 2004. The artist, Vito Drago, had nothing more to work with than the X-ray as a piece of evidence, which he only slightly altered with a dotted outline of a ballet pump.

Some were simply personal objects that belonged to the women like a necklace, shoes and a golden pendant placed into glass frames with the victim’s name written underneath.

The exhibit commemorates the dead and creates an understanding of the grief, but also brings to light the brutal reality of the situation in Cuidad Juárez. It emphasizes certainty that gender-based violence is happening right before our own eyes. The bold statement by Challenger and the many British artists who contributed to the project is one that was most definitely worth taking the time to check out.

Words and photos: Alicia-Rae Light

400 Women ran from November 12 - December 5, 2010 at Shoreditch Town Hall Basement, 380 Old Street, EC1V 9LT. Curated by Ellen Mara De Wachter, a curator and writer based in London.

For more info on the female homicides in Cuidad Juárez and the Juárez project, click here.