1718_LAS ARADAS
Río Sumpul Massacre Massacre Memorial
- Location :
- Las Aradas, El Salvador
- Client :
- Asociación Sumpul
- Team :
- AgwA + Evelia Macal
Thomas Montulet - Subcontractors :
- Escuela de Arte de la Universidad de El Salvador (Lourdes Calero, Miguel Mira), Roberto Urbina
- Planning :
- 2017-2024
- Category :
- Completed
The Río Sumpul Massacre
From the late 1970s until 1992, the Salvadoran Army (Fuerza Armada de El Salvador), the National Guard (Guardia Nacional), and the paramilitary group ORDEN perpetrated numerous massacres against civilians in rural El Salvador, as part of a US-backed government strategy of violent oppression, including assassinations, disappearances, torture, forced displacement, and scorched earth tactics (operaciones de tierra arrasada). Victims were targeted because of their perceived support of different factions of guerilla groups opposing the repressive regime.
In Chalatenango, particularly the territories near San José Las Flores, Arcatao, and Las Vueltas, civilians sought refuge in a hamlet known as Las Aradas , by the Sumpul River, on the Honduran border, in early 1980. By mid-May, thousands had gathered there, some escaping the military operations in the region and others repelled from across the border by the Honduran army .
In the morning of the 14th of May, the Salvadoran Armed Forces, ORDEN, and the National Guard massacred approximately 600 civilians with the passive support of the Honduran armed forces, who prevented people from crossing the river. Many were killed on land, while others were shot or drowned in the river as they attempted to escape the onslaught. Access to the site was denied in the weeks following the massacre, preventing the retrieval of bodies for proper burials.
The Rio Sumpul Massacre (Masacre del Rio Sumpul) – as it is now known – was among the first large scale massacres in the region, marking a significant moment precipitating the civil war, alongside other events such as the assassination of Monseñor Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, on the 24th of March, 1980.
The design’s main feature is the planting of over 250 flame trees in a 7m*7m grid by community members. The irregular exterior edge of the plantation blends into the natural surroundings, while a central 63m*63m “square” forms a distinctive void, revealing the massacre’s original soil, without pointing to a specific locus.
(...)
Not Monuments
Key symbolic elements within this space include the 1993 monument, a rounded memorial with ceramic plaques listing the victims’ names slightly below the ground level (referring to the dispersion and unknown exact number of bodies), a circular bench and collective fireplace; a Maquilishuat (Tabebuia Rosea, the national tree of El Salvador), and a ceiba (Ceiba Pentandra, the sacred tree in Maya theology connecting the upper, middle, and underworld, traditionally marking new settlements).
Bordering the central square, one flame tree is replaced by a polychrome, life-sized, and realistic statue of Monseñor Romero, inspired by the mural painting ornamenting the exterior of the cathedral of San Salvador since 2017. Devoid of any base, Romero stands on the same soil as the participants, a humble observer to the commemorations.
The statue and the memorial were created in collaboration with Professors Lourdes Calero and Miguel Mira of the University of El Salvador (UES Escuela de Artes), involving students from their respective sections. Numerous community members, stakeholders, collaborators, and scholars participated to the transport and installation of the art pieces during two large-scale collective activities.
The most imposing element of the memorial is a large, single sloped roof offering shelter to the commemoration and to a mural painting on a 15m long adobe wall. A grid of 16 columns continuing the pattern of the flame trees and a lightweight, prefabricated steel structure supports the roof. Matiz, a local collective of painters, is creating the fresco to be finalized after the completion of the works in May 2024. Three benches containing river stones frame a space for activities. Similarly to the memorial and the statue, avoiding monumentality but embracing dignity, the roof quietly navigates characteristics of sacred, utilitarian and popular architecture.
source : "Memorial of the 1980 Río Sumpul Massacre, Chalatenango, El Salvador : The Participatory Design and Collaborative Realization of a Grassroots Project" (AMPS 2023, Local Cultures Global Spaces - Communities, People and Place, conference proceedings, to be published)
This project frames in the Memoria Histórica Sobreviviente el El Salvador de la Posguerra international research initiative, co funded by SSHRC and KU Leuven. It was realized in partnership with the Escuela de Arte de la Universidad de El Salvador.
From the late 1970s until 1992, the Salvadoran Army (Fuerza Armada de El Salvador), the National Guard (Guardia Nacional), and the paramilitary group ORDEN perpetrated numerous massacres against civilians in rural El Salvador, as part of a US-backed government strategy of violent oppression, including assassinations, disappearances, torture, forced displacement, and scorched earth tactics (operaciones de tierra arrasada). Victims were targeted because of their perceived support of different factions of guerilla groups opposing the repressive regime.
In Chalatenango, particularly the territories near San José Las Flores, Arcatao, and Las Vueltas, civilians sought refuge in a hamlet known as Las Aradas , by the Sumpul River, on the Honduran border, in early 1980. By mid-May, thousands had gathered there, some escaping the military operations in the region and others repelled from across the border by the Honduran army .
In the morning of the 14th of May, the Salvadoran Armed Forces, ORDEN, and the National Guard massacred approximately 600 civilians with the passive support of the Honduran armed forces, who prevented people from crossing the river. Many were killed on land, while others were shot or drowned in the river as they attempted to escape the onslaught. Access to the site was denied in the weeks following the massacre, preventing the retrieval of bodies for proper burials.
The Rio Sumpul Massacre (Masacre del Rio Sumpul) – as it is now known – was among the first large scale massacres in the region, marking a significant moment precipitating the civil war, alongside other events such as the assassination of Monseñor Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, on the 24th of March, 1980.
The design’s main feature is the planting of over 250 flame trees in a 7m*7m grid by community members. The irregular exterior edge of the plantation blends into the natural surroundings, while a central 63m*63m “square” forms a distinctive void, revealing the massacre’s original soil, without pointing to a specific locus.
(...)
Not Monuments
Key symbolic elements within this space include the 1993 monument, a rounded memorial with ceramic plaques listing the victims’ names slightly below the ground level (referring to the dispersion and unknown exact number of bodies), a circular bench and collective fireplace; a Maquilishuat (Tabebuia Rosea, the national tree of El Salvador), and a ceiba (Ceiba Pentandra, the sacred tree in Maya theology connecting the upper, middle, and underworld, traditionally marking new settlements).
Bordering the central square, one flame tree is replaced by a polychrome, life-sized, and realistic statue of Monseñor Romero, inspired by the mural painting ornamenting the exterior of the cathedral of San Salvador since 2017. Devoid of any base, Romero stands on the same soil as the participants, a humble observer to the commemorations.
The statue and the memorial were created in collaboration with Professors Lourdes Calero and Miguel Mira of the University of El Salvador (UES Escuela de Artes), involving students from their respective sections. Numerous community members, stakeholders, collaborators, and scholars participated to the transport and installation of the art pieces during two large-scale collective activities.
The most imposing element of the memorial is a large, single sloped roof offering shelter to the commemoration and to a mural painting on a 15m long adobe wall. A grid of 16 columns continuing the pattern of the flame trees and a lightweight, prefabricated steel structure supports the roof. Matiz, a local collective of painters, is creating the fresco to be finalized after the completion of the works in May 2024. Three benches containing river stones frame a space for activities. Similarly to the memorial and the statue, avoiding monumentality but embracing dignity, the roof quietly navigates characteristics of sacred, utilitarian and popular architecture.
source : "Memorial of the 1980 Río Sumpul Massacre, Chalatenango, El Salvador : The Participatory Design and Collaborative Realization of a Grassroots Project" (AMPS 2023, Local Cultures Global Spaces - Communities, People and Place, conference proceedings, to be published)
This project frames in the Memoria Histórica Sobreviviente el El Salvador de la Posguerra international research initiative, co funded by SSHRC and KU Leuven. It was realized in partnership with the Escuela de Arte de la Universidad de El Salvador.
