Art in honor of the missing 43 students

14:45 - 12 October 2015

A protester in Mexico City commemorates the first anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa. Protesters have tackled the issue in striking and original visual ways — such as this figure, clad in a mask crowned with crucifixes

43 students were abducted, killed and cremated by a local gang in Mexico and these arts were made to honour them.

43 students from a rural teachers college in Ayotzinapa, Mexico disappeared more than a year ago.

In a country wracked by violence, the case of the disappeared students continues to resonate: a story of everyday, working-class Mexicans attempting to make a better life for themselves, who were smothered by drug war violence — that of the government and of the cartels (two purportedly opposing groups who too often appear to be working in tandem).

In this environment, the 43 have become more than just a number, they have become a symbol of everything that is wrong with Mexico's corrupt ruling classes, a breaking point for a people who have had enough.

However, the horrific killings have inspired a frenzy of art-making: impromptu installations, murals, banners, masks and costumes.

These art may look ordinary but they tell an interesting story: The 43 may be gone, but they will not be forgotten.