On how to remember

Abstract

In this article, we contrast the state-sponsored memory site Memorial a las Víctimas de la Violencia en México with the citizen memorial performed by the Iniciativa Bordando por la paz y la memoria: una víctima, un pañuelo on 1 December 2012. We argue that whereas the Memorial’s solidity, permanence, and strength embody the Mexican federal government’s insistence on denying the state’s responsibility for human rights abuses perpetrated within the framework of the so-called ‘war on drugs’, the flexibility and fragility of the 1 December citizen memorial and its dismantling during the riots on the same day attest to the performativity and contingency of memory-making processes. Furthermore, we claim that the break-up of the embroidery network that took place after 1 December shows that counter-memories are also arenas of dissent, insofar as debates on how to remember remain open and susceptible to conflicting views.