Battle of the Brushes: Mexico's Protest Artists Revive Missing Students Savannah Pratt - CNN
go to original January 13, 2016

They've been missing for over a year, but the victims of the Iguala student disappearance have re-emerged thanks to the efforts of a poignant and powerful project by Mexican artists.

Known as the 43 Artist Group, they're keeping the flame of hope burning by painting portraits of the missing students - a defiant move in the current political climate.

On September 26, 2014, 43 students went missing from Iguala, Mexico. Authorities say the students were heading to a protest when they disappeared. Jose Angel, one of those missing, called his father in a panic, saying they were being attacked by police. Since that night, no one has heard from Angel or the other students - missing and feared dead.

Artists, upset with local authorities' lack of answers and demanding justice, picked up brushes and began painting in protest.

"Today's politicians have failed to convince, but art touches the most sensitive parts of us as humans," Group member Joel Amateco Veneacio, told CNN. "We have no weapons other than our brushes."

Formed in late 2014, The 43 Artist Group consists of 15 painters and took part the first anniversary of the event in September 2015. Protests were held throughout Mexico and art was at the forefront - as it was in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks.



The number 43 and decorated faces were broadcast around the world. One mask in particular caught the media's attention: a deathly face whose teeth spelled "Ayotzinapa", the city in Guerrero state from which the students originated.

The 43 Artist Group have nearly completed their latest project.

Read the rest at CNN

Photo: Getty Images

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