Statement/Description
The Hechos y Desechos Zine began as a poem, "El Salvador, a savior, a spectacle." Created after spending five weeks living in San Salvador, El Salvador, the zine explores life under the State of Exception — a now permanent "state of emergency" created under the guise of mitigating a gang crisis that has resulted in a consolidation of power under Nayib Bukele. Through collage, poetry, and data, the zine situates the present moment within the longer history of United States involvement in Salvadoran politics, reflecting on how narratives of safety, order, and nationalism are constructed and circulated. Hechos y Desechos (facts and undoings) is both documentation and analysis — ultimately asking: Who is Nayib Bukele making El Salvador safe for?
About the Artist/Author
KT is a queer Salvadoran-American artist based in Miami. Their multidisciplinary practice explores identity and histories of displacement through analog collage, photography, filmmaking, performance, and poetry. With an emphasis on historical memory and collective healing, they are interested in cultivating spaces of reflection and care for those living between languages, borders, and definitions. Their work has been featured at Information Space (PA) and Superchief Gallery (FL) during Art Basel Miami. In 2025, they presented their first solo show, Más Tiempo Que Vida, at Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen in San Salvador, El Salvador. Their short film Nixtamalizado won Best Salvadoran Short Documentary at the 2025 Utopías y Memorias Festival.
Details: 5 × 7 in. • 12 pages • Bright red and black ink on pink cover / natural interior • Saddle-stitched risograph printed zine • Published by Matiz Press, 2026
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