The Non-Place: Villa Baviera by Fernando Rosa

For more than forty years residents of Colonia Dignidad lived practically in slavery, isolated not only from Chile, but from the historical evolution of the 20th century. Founded by German immigrants in 1961, the community of Villa Baviera Ex-Benefactor Society and Educational Dignity sheltered more than 500 people in its interior. The human rights of men, women and children were violated openly and with impunity. Chilean children were also abducted and taken with illegal adoptions, in a state of vulnerability, and never saw their parents again. All these people were abused psychologically and physically; men and women could not talk to each other or reproduce because of the prohibition of contact between genders.

After the capture of their leader and his death, the place opened to the 21st century, rediscovering the past and the present. Now they face the social abandonment of the Chilean and German states, adapting to the society that has been an omniscient witness of a horrific testimony. The community has had to face challenges that nobody seemed to prepare them for. Nobody could escape from Villa Baviera, and when they could, they had nowhere to go, because they realized that that is all they know and it is their home. The objective of this project was to document the last ten years of Villa Baviera, and its continuous struggle to survive in today's world.

Fernando Rosa lives and works in Valencia, Spain and Santiago, Chile.
To view more of Fernando’s work, please visit his website.