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 Árboles 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.
