The Power of Words: Curatorial Statement

 It was the year 1979, two years after the birth of the Grandmothers of May Square in Argentina and their search for justice and their baby grandchildren.  In Toronto, Canada, a group of Argentinean political exiles and Canadian sympathizers were organizing campaigns in defense of human rights and democracy under the name of Group for the Defense of Civil Rights in Argentina.  One of such campaign, in conjunction with Development & Peace (Canada) and the Catholic Women's League of Canada, consisted of a Canada-wide letters writing campaign in support of the plea of the Grandmothers of May Square.

Discussion and education groups were organized across Canada, creating a real tide of letters and testimonies of affection towards the search of the grandchildren of the Grandmothers, disappeared alive by the military-civilian Argentinean dictatorship.  At the time, little was known of their fate, most born in clandestine detention and torture centers, separated from their mothers within hours and become orphans within days as their mothers were thrown barely conscious from planes into the sea.

Organizers reported that the success was such that more than 170 thousand letters and cards passed through the Argentinean Central Post office on their way towards these grandmothers. The mail system had to hire special trucks to be able to cope with the additional demand! In times of military dictatorship, this did not go unnoticed by the oppressors in power.

More than 40 years of struggle, search and reunions with their grandchildren have passed since those lonely times in Argentina; only receiving support such as this campaign from abroad. Today, although the Grandmothers of May Square are no longer alone, the search for their missing grandchildren, now adults, expands to other parts of the world. The Grandmothers of May Square are recognized around the world for their contributions in the fields of jurisprudence, genetics, psychology and international law in defense of the rights of children.

The present exhibition is as much a tribute to the tens of thousands of people organizing and pouring their hearts into those cards and letters as to these legendary grandmothers who still search for their grandchildren now worldwide. Here we are presenting some of the original letters, the campaign in their historical context as well as thank-you messages from found grandchildren of the disappeared. From one heart to another, in solidarity.