Popular Memory Archive of Villa 20
Popular Memory Archive of Villa 20
Project: Popular Memory Archive of Villa 20
Members: Ariel Nahón, Claudio Álvarez, Damary Peña, Daniel Alva Torres, Emiliano Benitez, Laura Arévalos, Marisa Llanos, Oscar Mejía, Pablo Matías Herrera, Ricardo Coronel, Roberto Russo Diaz, Silvia Marquez, Sol Bolloqui, Zoe Durruty
Founded: 2018 – Present
Location: Villa 20, Villa Lugano, District 8, Buenos Aires City
Contact: [email protected]
Web: https://archivovilla20.com.ar/
IG:. http://instagram.com/archivovilla20
Publications:
Revista institucional del Ministerio Público de la Defensa
Description, concept, objectives
The construction of the Popular Memory Archive of Villa 20 (CAMPV20) is an artistic and political practice that has been carried out since 2018 in Villa 20 of Lugano—one of Buenos Aires’ oldest popular neighborhoods. In 2016, a reurbanization process began in this area, marked by limited community participation in urban planning decisions. This process has deeply transformed the space, its living logics, and social relations. However, in recent years, the urbanization project has stagnated, leaving much of the infrastructure and housing improvements unfinished and unfunded.
In this context, the CAMPV20 emerges as a living archive of the neighborhood’s memory, documenting its history of community organization and the tools used by residents to build homes on land that was once part of the Riachuelo’s wetlands. The Archive has developed multiple resources: a digital and virtual archive accessible online, a physical headquarters (operational from 2021 to 2024), a permanent exhibit at Primary School 11 D.E 21, and various community activities.
These include a Community Film and Memory Workshop, Shared Memory Tables, school exhibitions, and actions of registration, cataloguing, digitization, and documentary research. Over seven years, the archive has become recognized by the community as a place where the neighborhood’s memory is actively shared and preserved. Each time a resident donates a document or testimony, a symbolic act of communal legacy occurs—transforming private memory into collective heritage.
Activities
The creation of the Popular Memory Archive of Villa 20 is an interdisciplinary project that fosters the preservation and activation of intangible heritage. It began with the implementation of the Community Film and Memory Workshop, an open participatory space that, since 2018, through various approaches and work with different age groups, has recovered personal and community narratives and archives, and generated exercises in collective memory within the territory. The workshop functions as a laboratory for archival creation and the activation of memory, producing materials that are both disseminated and incorporated into the archive in digital formats. It brings together photographs, settlement certificates, videos, oral testimonies, written accounts, video actions, among many other objects imbued with memory and historical traces, which are preserved and activated through local socialization strategies.
At the heart of the project is memory, understood as a way to interweave past and present.
CAMPV20 consists of several components: Community Film and Memory Workshop, Shared Memory Gatherings, Audiovisual Documentation of PIRU (Integral Re-Urbanization Program), Open Archive Calls, Exhibitions in Schools, and participation in festivals, talks, exhibitions, and more. Below are some of the activities we have undertaken:
Community Film and Memory Workshop. Active since 2018, this workshop has taken various forms depending on the neighborhood groups involved. It serves as the main space for producing and planning activities. Over twenty short films, two feature-length films, and one video installation have been created.
Shared Memory Gatherings. These are reunification devices set up in public spaces—on the streets, at local markets, in community football fields, soup kitchens, cultural venues, and primary and secondary schools. They offer a space for residents to share their personal archives—photographs, documents, and memory-laden objects that they have preserved over time. In the act of sharing these items to form part of a collective archive, these objects become communal, sparking new stories and shared experiences. During these gatherings, the contributions are digitized on site, prompting multiple perspectives and interpretations that enrich the narratives of those who have safeguarded them.
Exhibitions in Schools and Local Cultural Spaces. The traveling exhibition of the Archive has visited various schools and neighborhood spaces: School 1 D.E 21 (2019), María Madre de la Esperanza Parish (2019), School 11 D.E 21 (2021–2023), Cultural Space PO (2021), and School 1 D.E 21 (2024).
Workshops for Young Environmental Documentarians, held in 2023 and 2024, brought together youth aged 18 to 30, including activists from various political and neighborhood organizations in Villa 20. The goal was to teach audiovisual tools—both technical and narrative—with the aim of creating a video map of Villa 20’s environmental memory.
“Caring for Where We Come From. Video Map of Villa 20’s Environmental Memory” is the result of these workshops held in 2023 and 2024. This documentary showcases the process of collective mapping carried out with local residents in search of the memory embedded in the territory. It also highlights how this memory resonates with present-day environmental conflicts and the collective struggles to protect the land and assert the right to dignified housing. Beyond being a workshop outcome, the documentary stands as a significant activity in itself: it was presented and awarded at the Buenos Aires International Environmental Film Festival, screened at various national and international festivals, and is set to premiere in 2025.
Youth Club. Since 2024, we have collaborated with the Frecuencia Lugano Youth Club at the Secondary School No. 1 D.E 21. Various audiovisual exercises have been carried out, with participating youth as central protagonists.
Currently, and looking ahead to 2025, we continue this collaboration and are working on the development of a streaming channel.
The Popular Memory Archive has also been featured in various exhibitions and events, including: Bienal Sur (2021), Microcentro Cuenta (2022), Ciudades Reveladas (2023), The Night of the Museums with the Historical Studies Council of Villa Lugano (2023), and From Within, curated by Barro Local at the Museum of Hunger (2024).
Difficulties
CAMPV20 is a self-managed collective, and the difficulties we face are compounded by the current government administration, which promotes policies diametrically opposed to the social-solidarity goals of the Archive. One of the main challenges is securing funding. The development and submission of proposals is an essential and time-consuming activity. Under the current national context, the search for resources has become even more challenging due to cuts in public funding.
Another challenge lies in the community-driven nature of CAMPV20, which relies heavily on the participation of Villa 20 residents. Since 2018, we have built these relationships through a consistent and active presence in the neighborhood, developing and implementing various initiatives. These efforts have cultivated bonds with residents who now feel a sense of ownership over the Archive. However, in the current socio-economic climate, income generation often takes precedence, leading some participants to shift their time to paid activities. While CAMPV20 continues to seek and test ways to compensate neighbors for their contributions—creating genuine job opportunities—this remains a fragile balance, requiring additional effort to sustain these relationships.
Future challenges
As a self-managed working collective, CAMPV20’s future challenge is to formally establish a cooperative with Villa 20 residents. This step would enable the creation of genuine employment opportunities and empower local residents to fully assume stewardship of their community archive.
