Vignettes and Cartoons: Artistic Protests Against the Prison Crisis

Abstract

While artists have served as social spokespeople throughout history, graphic representations— through photography, vignettes, cartoons, and cinema—have taken center stage since the third generation of human rights. Artists, by tapping into the popular imagination, tend to challenge and critique the injustices that jeopardize a state of well-being, regardless of the power structures in place at the time. This so-called "art for human dignity" (Bullé-Goyri, 2013) offers direct messages during periods of varying tolerance, even when images and diverse artistic expressions are strictly controlled. During the Ecuadorian prison crisis (insert date), artistic creation became a vital element of protest the passivity of regulatory bodies in solving the problem. Due to the scarce—and even negligent—coverage by private media, streaming platforms and mass data-sharing outlets viralized images and vignettes, forcing the popular imagination to rethink its perception of the incarcerated population amidst the chaos. Therefore, this paper will discuss how graphic representations became a vital element of protest during the prison massacres that claimed the lives of (insert number) in various prisons across the country.