El Bosque de la Esperanza is a collaborative long-term project which seeks to improve access to the right to memory across various regions in Mexico by proposing a self-constructing, immersive, and virtual memorial for victims of disappearances in Mexico assisted by transdisciplinary aesthetic approaches such as architecture and film. In doing so, the project endeavors to weave together the Árbole
s de La Esperanza: ribbons hung on trees dispersed throughout Mexico created by family members since 2015 who search for their disappeared and missing loved ones by uploading and connecting them through a virtual platform – El Bosque de la Esperanza. The virtual platform is thereby co-created by family collectives, which decide how each individual space is designed to meet their commemorative needs – allowing personal spaces of memory to include anything from photos, videos, favorite poems, music playlists, etc. Immersive technologies will be used to prompt a rehumanization process as well as a shift in perception and empathy for a non-affected or directly involved audience.
