The other and us: Artworks as mediators for recognising victimised people

Based on the notion of mediated recognition as a strategy to extend the applicability of traditional recognition theory to a wider range of human interactions, I propose artworks as suitable mediators in recognitive relations concerning victims of human rights violations. To support my idea, I analyse three pieces embracing the creative potential of victimhood experiences in Colombia which facilitate visitors to engage with the other represented there, the victimised. The enticing aesthetic encounter may generate cognitive and emotional questioning, giving visitors elements for identifying victims as persons and, more importantly, for acknowledging their victimising experience, which I argue, has normative relevance in as much as it shows how a person should not be treated.