Fernando Traverso's bicycles and the origins of this sad but symbolic tradition (8 photos + 1 video)

The streets of Rosario, a city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe, are lined with dozens and hundreds of images of bicycles stenciled onto the walls. Each bicycle is dedicated to a victim of Argentina's military dictatorship.





The project was started in 2001 by Fernando Traverso, an Argentine medical worker and political activist. He began by painting twenty-nine life-size bicycles on walls, windows, doors, and other places in his hometown of Rosario in memory of the twenty-nine of his friends who were kidnapped and killed during Argentina's state terrorism that lasted from 1974 to 1983.



Rosario

Bicycles played a key role in the resistance, as most of the members used them as their primary form of transportation. Traverso noticed that when his friends began to disappear, their bicycles were often abandoned. Seeing such a simple vehicle was often the first sign that its owner had disappeared forever. These bicycles, abandoned on the streets of Rosario, served as sad memorials to those who were kidnapped.





Years later, Traverso decided to make these memorials permanent by painting the image of a bicycle on buildings throughout the city. Today, 350 bicycles are scattered throughout the city in memory of the 350 people who disappeared in Rosario. An estimated 30,000 people were killed or disappeared throughout the country during Argentina's military dictatorship.



From the author's memories of his unusual project:

The most beautiful thing about this project is that I started it alone, but soon friends and family members joined in. The collective story was collected together, and four years passed until we created these 350 works. The episode behind them is very sad, but the idea was clear: to attract attention. And bicycles were a good choice. I have been cycling all my life: I am almost 70 years old and I still use them. Why? Because it helped me get to know the city better, because it makes me fall in love with it and because, despite everything, it brings back wonderful memories of my youth.