400 Women: portraits of murdered women in Ciudad Juárez

The Mexican city Ciudad Juárez is notorious for its exceptionally high number of women that are murdered. Since 1993, around 400 girls and women have been killed. The drama of Ciudad Juárez inspired British artist Tamsyn Challenger to make her project 400 Women.
The exposition 400 Women features around 200 portraits of women who were murdered or have gone missing in Ciudad Juárez. Tamsyn Challenger asked 200 international artists to make a portrait of one of the women, based on photos.
If there were no photos available, the artwork was based on the name of the victim. One of the portraits is of the Dutch woman Hester van Nierop who was killed in Ciudad Juárez in 1998.

Murders unexplained 
After all these years there is no satisfactory explanation for why such a large number of women are murdered in the Mexican city. The majority of victims are students and factory workers of 15 to 25 years old. In most cases, there are signs of sexual violence, abuse or torture.
Several suspects have been arrested and convicted, but this has not put an end to the killings. Human rights organisations have strongly criticised the way the Mexican authorities investigate the murders.
Exhibition
Tamsyn Challenger got the idea for her 400 Women project when she was in Mexico, where she met a mother who was spreading photos of her 17-year-old daughter who has gone missing since 2001. With the exhibition the artist wants to make a stand against the killing of women in Ciudad Juárez and violence against women all over the world.
400 Women has already been on display in a tunnel complex in London and an old school house in Edinburgh. Now the portraits are on show in Amsterdam.
400 Women, former Sugar Factory, Halfweg, 3 to 16 May 2012.