THE BURGEOIS DEMOCRATIC STATE
Installation / 12

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During the opening of an art exhibition which proposed to question the current peruvian sociopolitical situation in relation to the armed conflict between the Shining Path and the peruvian government a projection of images taken from magazines where peruvian people from high and middle class appear in a festive atmosphere was set. Different electronic versions of the song Zorba the Greek* accompanied the video. The projection was set over a copy of the second thesis written by Abimael Guzman: The Bourgeois Democratic State.
During the night visitors to the show, people from the middle and high class ** of the city of Lima, danced, drank alcohol and enjoyed the festive atmosphere of the installation space.

* In 1991 the peruvian national intelligence service got to get a video where Abimael Guzman, the Shining Path leader, along with other people from the revolutionary group appear celebrating the anniversary of the Peruvian Communist Party (PCP). During the celebration the group dances energetically the song Zorba the Greek, this video was released later by the media being the first time that many of the Shining Path leaders were seen and until now this video is shown repeatedly. This is how the song Zorba the Greek became part of the collective memory related to the years of conflict.

** In most reports and studies about the confrontation between the Shining Path and the Peruvian government, middle and high class do not appear as a relevant field to understand the conflict even though the policies and social differences of the country are, and have been for many years, depending on economic strategies dictated by these classes.

In collaboration with Xose Quiroga