Conducting Fieldwork: Las Vueltas, November–December 2024

In November and December 2024, the Las Vueltas Research Team carried out a series of in-depth interviews in the Las Vueltas Department. The team includes community organizers Heidi Calderón, Nelson Rodríguez, Marvin Alas, and Juan Carlos; Salvadoran-Canadian artist Jessica Larios; Nicaraguan-Canadian research assistant Sabrina Del Bello Guatemala; and assistant professor of Anthropology Beatriz Juárez-Rodríguez (Carleton University). These conversations explored the historical formation of the community, everyday social and cultural life before the Civil War, the dynamics of the resettlement process, and the social and political organization that emerged during reconstruction.

This fieldwork period also marked the beginning of an exciting artistic collaboration. Local artist Nelson Rodríguez and Salvadoran-Canadian artist Jessica Larios began co-creating the visual narrative for an upcoming community-based comic  that tells the story of the resettlement of Las Vueltas and highlights the central role played by Padre Bernardo. The community-based comic book aims to bring community memory to life through a powerful and accessible visual medium.

The Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador research initiative is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Western University, Carleton University, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund.