The mayor of Colombia’s capital Bogota opened the city’s Memorial Center at its site alongside Bogota’s cemetery Thursday.
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The center is a new and contemplative space in the heart of Bogota, which aims to help to maintain the collective historical memory of victims of Colombia’s armed conflict, as well as allowing recognition of the rights of victims, peace-building and promoting a culture of democracy and human rights guarantees.
In the walls of the vault-like structure which rises 18 meters from below the ground, two thousand test tubes have been inserted. These tubes contain earth from numerous massacre sites around the country.
The entrance brings visitors down into the tomb-like space which has been constructed in Bogota’s graveyard, from which three thousand corpses were exhumed during the process. Cleverly avoiding morbidity, the creation of architect Juan Pablo Ortiz is light and inspiring.
The center was conceived as a central public space open to all citizens, to encourage understanding of the causes and consequences of political violence and armed conflict in Colombia.
Visitors have access to hundreds of documents, videos, testimonials, photographs, and databases logging tens of thousands of victims of Colombia’s 48-year-old armed conflict.