BATH.- When students arrive on campus this September, they’ll be struck by a new art exhibition in the lofty, modern Chancellors Building: The State of Disappearance by renowned Mexican abstract painter Chantal Meza.
This bold collection, created over five years beginning in 2017, explores the concept of disappearance in its many forms—physical, cultural, ecological, and ideological. The exhibition opens as part of the university's broader ambition to integrate art within its learning environment. Chantal Meza believes this approach is crucial. She said: “Universities are places where ideas can grow. When you bring together art and education, you create new ways of seeing the world. You make space for difficult conversations and for imagining a future that is more peaceful, more just, and more welcoming of our shared differences. Art has the power to reveal what is vanishing from the world. In this way, art and education are inseparable, as they both aim to explore the past, confront the present, and envision a better future."
Professor Brad Evans from the Centre for the Study of Violence collaborated with Meza on the project. He will give seminars and lectures in the modern space where some of the artworks will be housed. Guest speakers will also be invited to speak in the space. He said: “This initiative seeks to create a dialogue between art and academia, challenging us to confront the pressing social issues of our time. The role of art in education cannot be overstated. Art gives us a way to engage with complex and often painful realities more profoundly. It’s not just about understanding the issue—it’s about finding solutions and inspiring change."
Student Governor Jimena Alama, the Student Governor and Student’s Union (SU) President also voiced her support for the initiative. She said: “I am very moved by what this exhibition marks for the University of Bath. It is the first step of many of using our spaces to host artists, their expressions, and consequent conversations that will enrich the experience and the minds of generations of students to come."
The opening of The State of Disappearance coincides with the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Mexico—an incident that shocked the world. According to Human Rights Watch, over 100,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006, with thousands of unmarked graves discovered across the country. Enforced disappearance disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including women, children, and migrants. Journalists reporting on these issues are also at risk, with nearly 150 murdered or disappeared in Mexico in the last two decades.
The crisis of enforced disappearance is not limited to Mexico. It spans continents and centuries, from the Holocaust, where disappearance was a weapon of genocide, to authoritarian regimes during the Korean Conflict, the Guatemalan Civil War of the 1960s, the "Disappeared" of Northern Ireland from 1972–2005, and the 2014 Nigerian school abductions.
Chantal Meza is a self-taught abstract painter from Mexico, currently based in the UK. Her work has been featured in numerous prestigious exhibitions, auctions, and biennials in prominent museums and galleries across Mexico, Paraguay, and the UK. Chantal has given international lectures and workshops at various universities and has been recognised for her contribution to culture in Mexico. Her recent solo show, State of Disappearance, was held in Bristol in 2023, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
