Estás en mi (You Are Within Me): Feminist Artistic Responses to Gender Violence, and the “Grievable” Student Body in Contemporary Mexico

The vulnerability of student lives occupies a central position in the Mexican imaginary, informing a wide variety of artistic practices. Indeed, scholars and journalists have examined the artistic responses to the Massacre of Tlatelolco (1968), as well as the more recent disappearance of 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teacher’s College in Guerrero, Mexico (2014). In this study, however, I explore how gender inequality affects which student lives are deemed “grievable” in Mexico’s public arena. In particular, I analyze Estás en mi (You Are Within Me) (2018), a collaborative artistic project developed by Mónica Mayer; the work was part of Estado de emergencia (State Of Emergency) (2018), a series of public interventions organized by artist Lorena Wolffer to denounce gender violence in Mexico. You Are Within Me memorialized the life of Lesvy Berlín Osorio, whose life ended at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in 2017. Even though mass media outlets initially described her death as a suicide, video evidence suggested that the death was a murder. Feminist and student protestors prompted an ongoing investigation that has revealed the failings of the university and government authorities. Mayer’s work parallels these protests, serving as a collaborative artistic intervention that allowed family members and friends to grieve and memorialize Berlín Osorio’s life. In this manner, I argue that Mayer's artistic project redefines which student bodies are deemed “grievable,” forcing government authorities and audiences to acknowledge the violence of feminicidio or femicide in Mexico.