Disappearance of Worlds | Art Exhibition & Dialogues on Disappearance
Pembroke College, University of Oxford, 7–22 June 2025
We invite you to attend The Disappearance of Worlds, a solo exhibition by Mexican artist Chantal Meza, hosted at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, from 7–22 June 2025.
This powerful exhibition and accompanying dialogues are dedicated to the search for truth and justice in the face of disappearance in Mexico. It features madres buscadoras (searching mothers) from Jalisco and Estado de México, alongside researchers, who will share their stories and insights surrounded by Chantal Meza’s evocative artwork.
PROGRAMME
Welcome
Vanessa Gouws Operations Bursar, Pembroke College
Introduction Master of Pembroke College
The Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder
Distinguished Guest
Caroline Douilliez, Head of Missing Persons Centre, International Committee of the Red Cross – ICRC
Exhibition Partner
Dr. Michelle Castelleti, Director of Oxford Festival of Arts
In Conversation
Painter Chantal Meza in conversation with Will Gompertz – Director, Sir John Soane’s Museum, journalist and writer
Speakers:
Lizet & Carmen Cardona – Corazones Robados Searching Mothers’ Collective
Chair:
Fernanda Lobo Díaz – Human Rights Program, Universidad Iberoamericana
Instructors:
Lizet & Carmen Cardona – Corazones Robados Searching Mothers’ Collective
Speaker:
Gareth Owen – Former Humanitarian Director, Save the Children
Speakers:
Indira Navarro – Leader, Searching Mothers’ Collective ‘Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco’
Nicholas Márquez – President, British Association of Forensic Anthropology (BAFA)
Miguel Moctezuma – Global Security Programme, Pembroke College / The FOUND Project
José Luis Silván – CentroGeo / The FOUND Project
Jorge Ruiz-Reyes – Transitional Justice Lab, University of Notre Dame
Andrea Horcasitas – Human Rights Program Coordinator, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico
Mariela Garfias – Head of Programmes, British Embassy in Mexico
Chair:
Chantal Meza
Speaker:
Phil Scraton – Campaigner & Emeritus Professor, Queen’s University Belfast
Chair:
Professor Annette Idler – Director, Global Security Programme, Pembroke College & Associate Professor in Global Security, University of Oxford
Speakers:
Jan Royall – Principal, Somerville College Oxford
Brad Evans – Director, Centre for the Study of Violence; Professor of Political Violence & Aesthetics, University of Bath
Hari Reed – Incoming Co-Director, Asylum Welcome
Partners
Pembroke College JCR Art Collection
Pembroke College, Oxford
Oxford Festival of the Arts
Centre for the Study of Violence, University of Bath
FrontierTech
The FOUND Project
Global Security Programme, University of Oxford
Violence & Transitional Justice Lab, University of Notre Dame
Human Rights Program, Universidad Iberoamericana
About the Artist
Chantal Meza (b.1989, Mexico) is a painter based in the United Kingdom whose practice focuses on the human as seen through various forms of disappearance. Her works are held in public and private collections around the world and have been shown in exhibitions and biennials in Mexico, the UK, Paraguay, and Germany.
She has lectured at institutions such as Harvard University, École Normale Supérieure, Goethe Universität, and Goldsmiths, and has been commissioned publicly and privately. Her art has featured in major outlets including the BBC, Penguin Books, Columbia University Press, and The Philosopher.
Her ongoing series, State of Disappearance, has been exhibited in Bristol, London, and is currently on permanent display at the Chancellors Building, University of Bath.
More at: www.chantal-meza.com 