Our Culture
is
Our Resistance

Our Culture Our Resistance is a photography exhibition open on Thursday, August 24, 2023 with works by Jonathan Moller about the genocide during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1966) that left 166,000 indigenous Mayans dead. Thousands more vanished. The images (photographed 1993 to 2001) portray communities in resistance, captured against the backdrop of Guatemala’s tumultuous past, each a window into a world of life, death, hope and despair during these trying times. 

From 1993 to 2001, Jonathan Moller photographed victims and survivors of the Guatemalan Genocide. This period coincided with the aftermath of the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996), a chapter that inflicted an unfathomable toll of around 200,000 lives lost. Notably, within this staggering figure, 83% of the victims were indigenous Mayan civilians, their lives forever interwoven with the fabric of this somber history. An additional 40,000 individuals remain shrouded in mystery as “disappeared,” leaving their absence as a stark testament to the depths of this tragedy. Shockingly, the hands of government forces, bolstered by the backing of the United States, bear the weight of responsibility for an alarming 92% of the civilian executions.

Our Culture Is Our Resistance is a collection of portraits of Mayan communities in resistance, captured against the backdrop of Guatemala’s tumultuous past. Each photograph is a window into a world that witnessed both life and death, embodying the intricate tapestry of hope and despair woven during those trying times.