Trans Memory Archive

María Belén Correa is an internationally renowned trans activist from Argentina and the founder of the Trans Memory Archive. María Belén cofounded two of Argentina's first travesti and trans organizations including the Asociación Travestis, Transgéneros y Transexuales de Argentina (ATTTA) as well as REDLACTRANS, the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Transgender People. In 2004, she was granted political asylum in the United States, becoming the first Argentine trans person to be granted asylum outside Argentine after Argentina's democratic transition. She cocurated the exhibition Esta se fue, a esta la mataron, esta murió (2017) in the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center of Memory. She considers herself a survivor and now lives in Germany.

Cecilia Estalles is a thirty-six-year-old nontrans lesbian artivist from Buenos Aires whose artistic interests intersect with projects and collectives of social and political nature. She is interested in expanding the horizons and imaginaries of photography and in generating tools for social change. Since 2014, she has worked in the Trans Memory Archive, cocurated the exhibition Esta se fue, a esta la mataron, esta murió (2017), and deals primarily with the archive's administration.

Carla Pericles is a sixty-six-year-old trans woman from Tigre and the eldest member of the archive. She considers herself a survivor and spent twenty years living in exile in Italy. For the past year and a half, she has worked with the archive to digitize photos and co-curate exhibitions including Esta se fue, a esta la mataron, esta murió (2017). She is also in charge of administrating finances for the archive, which operates independently, with limited budget, and on a volunteer basis.

Ivana Bordei is a forty-six-year-old trans woman from Jujuy Province who has worked with the archive for the past two years. As part of her work with the archive, she spends time in the national library investigating archival photographs, magazines, newspapers, and police chronicles to piece together trans women's and travesti history. Ivana cocurated the exhibition Esta se fue, a esta la mataron, esta murió (2017), and she considers herself a survivor.

Magalí Muñíz is a fifty-four-year-old trans woman from Tigre who has worked in the archive for one and a half years. Her role with the archive consists of photo digitization, preservation, cataloguing, and conservation, and she also cocurates archival exhibitions, including Esta se fue, a esta la mataron, esta murió (2017). This year she has begun to study photography, and she considers herself a survivor.

Carolina Figueredo is a fifty-six-year-old transwoman from Neuquén Province who, as a trans elder, considers herself a survivor. Figueredo became affiliated with the Archivo de la Memoria Trans through Magalí Muñíz and has worked in the archive for the past one and a half years. As part of her work, she cleans and conditions photographs, preparing them to be digitized, and she cocurated the exhibition Esta se fue, a esta la mataron, esta murió (2017).

The Trans Memory Archive runs entirely by donation. While publication in an academic journal such as TSQ generates scholarly recognition for this activist project, it does not alter the material conditions of labor required to continue this work and can even serve as a form of extractivism. If you would like to make a donation to the archive to help ensure its longevity and directly impact the material conditions of this labor, please consider doing so at www.paypal.com/archivotrans.