Using augmented reality technology, REQUIEM200≤ makes it possible to learn the identity as well as the cause and place of death of every victim. Upon downloading a free app, users can access this information by placing their iPhone on the QR code assigned to each victim and printed on one of thirteen maps of Venezuelan states included in the installation. More than two hundred people have been murdered in Venezuela between February 2014 and February 2018 during protests against Nicolás Maduro’s autocratic regime.
Every entry in REQUIEM200≤ includes a photograph of the commemorated person. For Bule, it is essential to honour the memory of the victims by underscoring the individuality of each one. “Oftentimes, the crimes and injustices perpetrated by those who hold power are reduced to numbers and statistics,” the artist points out. “Hardly anyone remembers the faces of the victims of totalitarian power. As I call attention to the brutal political repression carried out by Maduro’s regime, I want to contribute to memorializing the faces of those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause if Venezuela’s freedom.”