Guatemala endured more than three decades of brutal armed conflicts from the 1960s through the 1990s in which more than 200,000 people were killed. Although a peace agreement was finally reached in 1996, the past thirteen years have been marked by the rule of impunity, social inequality and violent crime. Assaults, death threats and killings continue. None of the political officials who presided over massacres have been brought to trial.
Although political activist efforts continue to by thwarted by forces of repression, in recent years, many artists in the capital city have devised creative means of addressing the political turmoil that continues to shape the lives of all Guatemalans. On October 3, 2009, Parsons The New School for Design will host a symposium featuring visiting artists Regina Galindo, Anibal Lopez and David Perez, who will discuss their art and its effects in their homeland and abroad.
In addition, panelists Johanna Burton (Whitney Independent Study Program),
