Paliacate 8M
Object design
2024
The green bandana is the symbol of protest that gives the name to the Marea Verde (Green Wave), the recurring reproductive rights movement led by Latin American feminists who demand legal, safe and free access to abortion. This bandana is a wearable object, carrying information on the recent historical achievements of the movement, while taking motifs from embroidery.
The bandana was first seen at the XVIII National Women's Meeting in Rosario, Argentina in 2003, and became popularized by the rest of the continent through the years. It is inspired by the use of white handkerchiefs embroidered by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of Plaza de Mayo) in 1977, who protested the forced disappearances of their children and grandchildren during the military dictatorship of Videla. It represents a larger shift in organized women-led movements, using elements associated with the domestic and feminine in public spaces to demonstrate anger, union, persistence, and discontent with social conditions.
The bandanas were screen-printed with the help of Michelle Nordmeyer at Hyde Park Art Center. The final product is being developed, with the goal of sharing it with the feminist community of Latin America.
Detail testing shots
Photos of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo in the 60s on the left, and a Marea Verde protest in Argentina. (Photographers unknown)