Guernica Mural
This mural by the artist Juan Carlos Marchesi (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1943) is not a copy but a contemporary reinterpretation of Pablo Picasso’s original. Similar in scale to the original painting, it is made using acrylics, ceramic reliefs, and photographic transfers onto ceramic. On one side of the mural, Marchesi reprises the expressive figures of Guernica and incorporates more than twenty images of major massacres and bombings of the twentieth century, including Hiroshima, the Holocaust, the bombing of Plaza de Mayo, and more recent conflicts. Particularly striking is the figure of the wounded woman who, attempting to escape from war, wraps around the wall and invites the viewer to see the other side, revealing an allegory of life, love, peace, and the utopian hope that a better world is possible.
The project, promoted by Pedro Pesatti, is located in Ferreira Park in Viedma, Argentina, as part of the initiative The Space of Humanity and Memory. Conceived as an open classroom for the teaching of human rights and as a venue for community cultural activities, the mural has become a local symbol of memory, gathering, and collective reflection.
Participants in the project include Silvana Pezzano and Liliana Mercado (ceramics), Lis Bernardet Feliciano, Hadita Mercado, Patricio Grahan, Rafael Crivaro (painting), Valeria Bernatene (historical research and project curator), Pablo Leguizamon (photographic documentation), and Juan Carlos Marchesi (artistic direction).