Oír el silencio: Paisajes sonoros no humanos en Silencios de Juan Manuel Echavarría

Abstract: In the series of photographs Silencios (2010–present), Juan Manuel Echavarría portrays the abandoned rural schools in Colombia caused by enforced displacement in the frame of the armed conflict. Unlike the abundant representations of violence in Colombia in which the human body is the protagonist and direct violence prevails (such as mutilated bodies, corpses, and grieving physiognomies), in these images, there is no presence of human bodies. Conversely, the photographer decided to depict the ruins and in four of them, he portrays farm animals in front of the school boards, such as a rooster, a calf, and a donkey. Departing from the title of the series, which alludes to sound, I articulate the way in which, by decentering the human body and centering the animal as a witness of violence, a nonhuman soundscape is configured that challenges the scopophilia and anthropocentrism that dominates the visuality of the armed conflict in Colombia. Even though this article departs from the question of the visual representation of violence in Colombia, it is also intended to contribute to the intersection between sound studies, visual studies, and more than human perspectives.

Duke Scholars

Author Maria Paula Molano Parrado