Kena Lorenzini

Chilean psychologist, photographer, and activist

Occupation(s)Psychologist, photographer, writerPolitical partyDemocratic RevolutionAwardsAltazor Award (2010)Websitelorenzinilorenzinikena.blogspot.com

María Eugenia Lorenzini Lorenzini (born 1959), better known as Kena Lorenzini, is a Chilean psychologist, photographer, writer, curator, feminist, and activist.

Early life and education

Kena Lorenzini was born in Talca in 1959 to a Catholic and Pinochetist family.^[1] She completed secondary school at the Liceo Blanco Encalada in Talca in 1976.^[2] She earned a degree in Gender and Sexualities, Research, and Social Intervention from the Academy of Christian Humanism University and a master's in clinical psychology with a mention in psychoanalysis from Adolfo Ibáñez University.^[3]

Career

Lorenzini made her debut as a self-taught photographer in 1980.^[4] Since then, her work has been published in periodicals such as the magazines Análisis [es], Hoy [es], and Pluma y Pincel, and the newspaper La Nación.^[5] She takes inspiration from urban art present in Chile from the 1970s, passing through the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet into the reinterpretation of urban culture present in contemporary cities.^[4]^[6] Much of her photography has been devoted to documenting social protests.^[7]

In 2010, she won the Altazor Award for National Arts in the photography category for Visible/Invisible, her exhibition with Helen Hughes and Leonora Vicuña.^[8]

Exhibitions

Lorenzini has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, including CowParade Santiago (2006),^[9] Chile, geografía de niños (2000), Visible/Invisible at La Moneda Palace (2009),^[10] Historia de Chile a través de la fotografía at the National Museum of Fine Arts (2010),^[11] and Fragmentos/Memorias/Imágenes a 40 años del golpe at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights (2013).^[12]

Politics

In the 2017 general election, Lorenzini stood as a Broad Front candidate for senator, receiving 4,836 votes (1.3% of the total cast).^[13] She is a member of Democratic Revolution and publicly advocates for women's rights, same-sex marriage, and LGBT rights.^[14]

Personal life

Lorenzini's left-wing politics and identification as a lesbian^[1] caused conflict with her family early in life. She abandoned Catholicism at age 23.^[1]

Works

Fragmento fotográfico, arte, narración y memoria. Chile 1980–1990 (2006), ISBN 9789563104820
Marcas crónicas: fotografías de Kena Lorenzini (2010), ISBN 9789563350111
Parejas lésbicas: tramas del sufrimiento y emergencia de nuevos imaginarios en la subjetividad femenina (2010), ISBN 9789562605458
Diversidad sexual: 10 años de marchas en Chile (2011), ISBN 9789563350906
Todas íbamos a ser reinas: Michelle Bachelet (2011), ISBN 9789563350449
Visible/invisible: Hughes/Lorenzini/Vicuña: tres fotógrafas durante la dictadura militar. Ocho Libros (2012). Montserrat Rojas Corradi, Laura González, Mario Fonseca. ISBN 9789563351095.

Gallery

Feminists protesting during the Pinochet regime
Demonstration by relatives of disappeared detainees

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Gallo, Macarena (13 June 2012). "'Chile no soportaría a una Pedro Lemebel lesbiana'" [Chile Could Not Bear a Lesbian Pedro Lembel]. The Clinic (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Liceo Blanco Encalada de Talca" (in Spanish). Televisión Nacional de Chile. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Antecedentes académicos docentes" [Teachers' Academic Backgrounds] (PDF) (in Spanish). Fundación Henry Dunant. 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b Silva Astorga, Daniela (22 June 2010). "Recados callejeros de los 80 se juntan en libro fotográfico" [Street Messages from the 80s Come Together in a Photographic Book]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ Castell, Jordi (21 January 2001). "Vivienda y decoración: Kena Lorenzini" [Housing and Decoration: Kena Lorenzini]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Lente Urbano" [Urban Lens]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). 17 July 2001. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Entrevista, Kena Lorenzini: 'Soy una mujer activista y ese es mi norte'" [Interview, Kena Lorenzini: 'I am a Woman Activist and This is My Goal']. Contintanegra (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Helen Hughes, Kena Lorenzini y Leonora Vicuña" (in Spanish). Altazor Awards. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ Schmidlin Moore, Heidi (7 October 2005). "Vacas invitan a dialogar con la ciudad" [Cows Invite Dialogue with the City]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Visible/invisible: tres fotógrafas durante la dictadura militar en chile" [Visible/Invisible: Three Photographers During the Military Dictatorship in Chile] (in Spanish). Centro Cultural Palacio de La Moneda. 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Armendáriz Azcárate, Maite (18 April 2010). "La primera historia fotográfica de Chile" [The First Photographic History of Chile]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "'Fragmentos/Memorias/Imágenes. A 40 años del Golpe'" [Fragments/Memories/Images. 40 Years Since the Coup] (in Spanish). Museum of Memory and Human Rights. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ "Circunscripción 9 – Maule". El Mercurio (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
^ Lavquén, Alejandro (24 June 2011). "Rompiendo el silencio: Parejas lésbicas" [Breaking the Silence: Lesbian Couples]. Punto Final (in Spanish). No. 736. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2020.