Apropiación contemporaneizada de la obra de Murillo para una concienciación sobre la continuidad de la vulnerabilidad infantil en el mundo

Abstract

Currently, child vulnerability remains an unresolved scourge. Cuenca, a unique Ecuadorian city where signs of poverty or evidence of significant social disparity are scarcely perceptible urbanistically, is also an example of this problem. In this context, we set out to visually represent Cuenca's children in conditions of social vulnerability, through a contemporized appropriation of Niños jugando a los dados (ca. 1665-1675) by Esteban Bartolomé Murillo, to raise awareness about the unresolved issue of poverty after centuries of scientific and technological development. Thus, our work stems from exploration in the mercantile environments of Cuenca—places where this harsh reality is most evident—and the use of the baroque language of the Spanish artist used as a reference for addressing the theme. Three children are depicted, among many who even alternate work tasks, in moments of recreation with objects within their reach. From Murillo's work to the present, there are substantial changes in the environment: now, Cuenca's architecture is represented in its modern aspect, as a strategy to reposition the problem four centuries later. The works converge, however, in the appropriation of gestures, in the chromatics, and in the tenebrist effect, which are crucial. Everything is aimed at fostering an emotionally empathetic aesthetic experience that seeks to contribute to civic awareness for social transformation.