Public spaces for the discussion of Peru’s recent past

In the aftermath of civil conflict and a truth commission into twenty years of violence (1980-2000), Peru is presently engaged in the difficult task of establishing overarching narratives that provide frameworks for organizing personal and collective memories in the few public spaces available for the discussion of this recent past. This article looks at two public spaces, a series of performative events in Ayacucho during the submission of the truth commission’s Final Report, and Lima’s memorysite, The Eye that Cries. One contentious memory is over who are appropriate victims and heroes to remember.