'#YaMeCanse': Naked Human Billboards Publicly Protest for Mexico's Disappeared Thomas Gorton - Dazed
go to original February 11, 2015

"Ya me canse" (I am tired) has become a rallying call for Mexicans (Edgar Olguín)

Edgar Olguín and Sara Yatziri Guerrero Juárez are two Mexicans fighting to make sure that the students are not forgotten. Olguín and Juárez, a photographer and model respectively, are members of an activist group that poses as naked human billboards in public places to draw attention to the plight of the Ayotzinapa 43.

Their project, Poner el Cuerpo, Sacar la Voz (roughly translated as "Using the Body, Expressing Our Voice"), photographs protesters with slogans daubed on their bodies, such as "Ya Me Canse" (I Am Tired) – a message that has come to embody the anti-corruption movement and the frustrations of ordinary Mexicans with the government. Others write messages blaming the military for the disappearance of the 43 students.

Olguín says that the nudity in his campaign isn't for titillation. "In our society, it’s more alarming to see a naked body, than to see a charred cadaver in column 8 of the newspaper," he explains.

Juárez describes murder in Mexico "as part of everyday life" and says that her participation comes about from "a need to share a silence in a country that sees six femicides a day and where the government disappears students". She wants to cause reflection, break prejudices and speak out against corruption, although even she admits she knows "how dangerous it is to express oneself".

Read the rest and see photos at Dazed

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