Lessons from "El Testigo": Thinking about teaching history from Jesus Abad Colorado's photographs

Abstract

This article is made as an approach to the work of the graphic reporter Jesús Abad Colorado, and to the possibilities that are now being given for the teaching of the “recent past” with his exhibition: El Testigo. Memorias del conflicto armado colombiano en el lente y la voz de Jesús Abad Colorado. Initially, a characterization of the exhibition is presented with an analysis of its reception in different journalistic media and balanced with the experience acquired through visits made within pedagogical activities or as a spectator of the photographic exhibition. Subsequently, the manner in which its effects on public opinion contribute to formulating proposals for the teaching of the recent past, is presented, particularly in the current context in which an advisory commission for the teaching of Colombian history defined by the  decree 1660 of 2019, in compliance with Law 1874 of 2017, proposed to restore the compulsory education of the history of Colombia as a full on integrated discipline in the curricular guidelines of the social sciences in basic and secondary education.