Art in Revolutionary Movements: Memoria Histórica and the Murals at the University of El Salvador (Rivas 2012)

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Carlos Rivas, 2012

This paper will look at the role of art in revolutionary movements, focusing specifically on the role of the murals at the University of El Salvador (UES) within the Salvadoran revolutionary struggle for liberation. Any person that walks through the UES is immediately struck by the very leftist tone and content found within the majority of the murals. To best of my knowledge, however, there has been little academic discussion on the murals at the UES, their history, or their significance. Likewise little has been written on the role of art within the ongoing Salvadoran revolutionary struggle as academia in general has continued to overlook El Salvador. I will argue that the murals are part of the same revolutionary struggle encompassed by the leftist political party Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) and represent a powerful form of resistance on behalf of UES students against not only the right in the country (represented by the right-wing political party Alianza Republicana Nacional, or ARENA), but against global capitalism in general. These murals simultaneously serve as mechanisms to preserve and promote a national memoria histórica that helps continue the spirit of Salvadoran and Latin American revolutions in the minds and consciousness of all who visit the UES campus but especially to UES students who view these murals on a daily basis, aiding them in their ability to analyze their reality critically and effectively.