María Belén Correa & Cecilia Estalles
Archivo de la Memoria Trans
Argentina · Visual Arts
Argentine trans activist María Belén Correa and visual artist Cecilia Estalles were nominated for the 2025 AFIELD Fellowship for Archivo de la Memoria Trans (AMT), an archive preserving Argentina’s trans and travesti histories while empowering communities, promoting reparations, and fostering education, art, and intergenerational dialogue.
Founded in 2012, the Archivo de la Memoria Trans (AMT) is an independent, community-driven archive created to preserve and activate the visual, political, and emotional history of Argentina’s trans and travesti communities from the early 20th century to the 1990s. What began as a digital Facebook archive has evolved into a major institution holding over 25,000 items, photographs, films, police records, letters, and personal belongings, that testify to survival amid decades of persecution and erasure.
Beyond preservation, the AMT also conducts training programs that promote job inclusion for trans people over 50 and advocates for historical reparations for survivors of Argentina’s dictatorship. Through exhibitions at institutions such as Tate Modern and Museo Reina Sofía, as well as community workshops, publications, and research programs, the archive redefines memory as a political act. It is not just an archive, it is a living movement of justice, repair, and resistance.
AFIELD Forum 2025 I Photo by Ben Yahya
María Belén Correa is an Argentine trans activist, founder, and director of the Archivo de la Memoria Trans (AMT). A survivor of state persecution, she has transformed her personal struggle into collective memory work that safeguards trans histories.
Cecilia Estalles is a lesbian visual activist and coordinator of the AMT, developing its curatorial and community programs, bridging art and activism. Together, they have built one of Latin America’s most influential archives on gender and human rights. Their work affirms that visibility is survival, and that memory itself can be a form of justice.
María Belén Correa and Cecilia Estalles I Photo by Veerle Vercauteren
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María Belén Correa & Cecilia Estalles
Archivo de la Memoria Trans
Argentine trans activist María Belén Correa and visual artist Cecilia Estalles were nominated for the 2025 AFIELD Fellowship for Archivo de la Memoria Trans (AMT), an archive preserving Argentina’s trans and travesti histories while empowering communities, promoting reparations, and fostering education, art, and intergenerational dialogue.