A memorial to Peru’s Internal Conflict

The simple, gut-wrenching entrance to an exhibition that commemorated the nearly 70,000 lives claimed by Peru’s internal conflict in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The image is from a visit I made to the site in 2009. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

July 15, 2014 11:04 AM PT

One of the most low-budget memorials I’ve ever seen has also been one of the most powerful: “Yuyanapaq” was housed at the Museo de la Nación in Lima and showed stark, black and white photography that chronicled the violence that once plagued Peru. It was a quiet space of reflection.

“Yuyanapaq,” as the exhibition was titled, was very straightforward: a series of well chosen news photographs that reflected the violence of the era. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

The stark white galleries couldn’t have been more simply installed. Photographs of different sizes told the story of the most decisive moments of the conflict, which involved various armed militias struggling against ill-prepared government forces. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

The arrangements in the museum were basic: photographs in lines or in a grid. This one, about occurrences related to the conflict in Lima, was accentuated by a lone image in red. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)