May 29, 2009
Fernando Traverso (Argentina, 1951) became active as an artist during the military dictatorship in Argentina. He worked in the resistance movement in his hometown of Rosario until he was forced to go into exile. During that time many members of Argentinean society were “disappeared”. Human rights groups put the total number of disappeared during Argentina’s “Dirty War” at 30,000. 350 were reported to have disappeared from Rosario alone, Traverso counted 29 of them as close friends.
Bicycles were a common form of travel for members of the resistance. An abandoned bicycle was often the first sign that its owner had been kidnapped, or disappeared. Traverso spray-painted 350 images of bicycles throughout the city of Rosario as homage to its missing citizens. According to the artist, "Walking through the streets of Rosario and seeing a bicycle leaning against a wall does not seem strange. Except, when one gets closer one can tell that it’s the black silhouette of a bicycle that once was in that same spot, in some other spot, or maybe nowhere."
Traverso will visit the University of Texas at El Paso from May 24th – June 1st. In addition to his public lecture on Thursday, May 28th at noon, he will conduct workshops for university students at UTEP and at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Please contact the Rubin Center for more information.
Fernando Traverso’s visit has been generously funded in part by the Rubin Center Director’s Circle.
In this video taken at a Rubin Center fundraiser, Traverso talks about his visit to El Paso, the image of the bicycle which represents Argentinean's disappeared citizens and the event this Saturday at UTEP where you can meet him.
For more information on Traverso and the upcoming exhibit, contact Kerry Doyle @ 915.747.6164. All events free and open to the public.