transporta managua

Participatory art project, Managua, Nicaragua, 2017

This site-specific project focused on the old city center in Managua, the site of a shifting population since a massive earthquake toppled the area in 1972, followed by the revolution and civil war. During the research phase of the project, interviews were conducted with individuals who once lived in Old Managua before the earthquake, as well as people who currently live in the area’s historic neighborhoods, many now inhabited by migrants from other parts of Nicaragua. The interviews were edited into a soundtrack that serves as an elusive mapping of the city. For several days, three caponeras—the local version of a moto-taxi or tuk-tuk—offered free rides to the public. The mapped route wrapped through the historic neighborhood of San Sebastián and sites such as the old cathedral, still in ruins. This project explored the context of Old Managua through storytelling and collective memory. The rides served as a site of convergence, a journey both traveled and remembered. 

More than 450 individuals participated in TRANSPORTA MANAGUA in March 2017.