An Argentinian memory for the world: ESMA Clandestine Center

With the goal of encouraging discussions and joint efforts between the political resistance and redemocratization processes in Latin American countries following their respective dictatorships, the Resistance Memorial of São Paulo presents An Argentinian memory for the world: ESMA Clandestine Center, an itinerary exhibit by the Museo Sitio de Memoria ESMA – Former Clandestine Center of Detention, Torture and Extermination. The exhibit focuses on the history of the most infamous facilities implied by the Armed Forces of Argentina during the civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983). It is estimated that around 5,000 people were kidnapped, tortured and deemed disappeared in the facility, until it was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2023. The exhibit also calls back to human rights violations against women at the time based on survivors’ testimonies.

The memorial site, the former headquarters of the Military Higher Education Institute of Mechanics (ESMA), was the largest clandestine center during the last civil-military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), where an estimate 5,000 people were kidnapped, tortured and treated as disappeared, including political activists, students and artists.

Divided into two main axes across 210m², the exhibit presents the story of the facility with testimonies showing a number of stories of struggle, bringing its audience back to the past and connecting them to present and the current fight for justice, truth and reparations. 

The Never Again Heritage hub features an institutional video about ESMA and six panels with text and images that cover the history of the facility. In addition, Women at ESMA covers specific forms of violence women were subject to during the kidnappings and imprisonments, such as in-prison maternity, solidarity efforts between inmates and the way towards physical and mental recovery.

The hub also includes an exhibit area with a set of photos from the Memoria Abierta archives, an alliance of Argentinian human rights organizations that promotes the memories of human rights violations from the recent past along with resistance efforts and the struggle for truth and justice, encouraging audiences to reflect on the present and strengthen democracy. With the goal of introducing audiences to a visual memory of the time, the exhibit shows records from photographers Daniel García and Eduardo Longoni, as well as two images by unknown authors.

By conducting this exhibit in partnership with Museo Sitio de Memoria ESMA, the Memorial seeks to show the importance of identifying and preserving the sites of severe human rights violations to strengthen our democracy and ensure these crimes never come to pass again. This is what the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Memorials (RESLAC), of which the Resistance Memorial and the Museo Sitio de Memoria ESMA, is all about.