Reflections on silence and ritualised hospitality

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay explores a hospitality rite as a contribution to transitional justice. It describes a tea ceremony (and a related video recording, focused on testimonies) in La Hoyada, a site used as a clandestine burial ground for people abducted, tortured, and killed during the internal armed conflict in Peru. A place of destruction acquires new significance as an unfamiliar ritual breaks the temporality of the site; mindful hospitality actions create silence, so the voices of people can be better heard. The video is available at https://vimeo.com/trimedia/lahoyada.