Street artist Laika denounces femicides in Ciudad Juarez
In the wake of the murder of Giulia Cecchettin and on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25th), street artist Laika traveled to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (which holds the sad record for the highest number of femicides in the world), to create her new artwork “Vivas nos queremos!” (We want to stay alive). Over the past thirty years, more than 2,300 women have been murdered in Juarez, in the state of Chihuahua.
Laika’s artwork is a cry of pain and denunciation, rich in details and political references. It depicts a feminist activist with her face covered and her fist raised in a sign of struggle, surrounded by roses and a pink cross, to remember Giulia Cecchettin and “all those who never returned home.” On her t-shirt, the famous phrase “Ni Una Mas” (Not One More) by poet Susana Chavez is displayed, which has become synonymous with the fight for women worldwide. The tattooed arm pays homage to the transfeminist militant organization “Non Una di Men” and the women’s shelter “Lucha y Siesta” in Rome, which has hosted over 1,000 women in 15 years.
In the top right corner, the symbol of the association “Nuestras Hijas de regreso a casa” (Our Daughters Back Home) is prominently displayed. The association was founded in Ciudad Juarez by activist teacher Marisela Ortiz and Norma Andrade, mother of Lilia Alejandra, who disappeared on February 14th, 2001, and was found dead in an abandoned field a week later. At the bottom, the inscription “Vivas nos queremos!” (We want to stay alive!) stands out.
“Being in Ciudad Juarez is a declaration of war against macho violence, a global scourge that must be eradicated,” says Laika.
“In my country, a woman is killed about every three days, while in Mexico, about 11 women are killed every day. It is unacceptable! My artwork is a cry for the fight that urges us to fight together, from Italy to Mexico. I came here, to this place of death, with all the risks it entails, to shout to the world: enough with this massacre. We must start with education to uproot gender violence. It is an urgent battle because the numbers of femicides are constantly increasing. Not one more, not one less.”