On February 23, 2024, the Museum of Memory in Quetzaltenano (Xela) opened its doors as an act of truth, remembrance, and poetic justice. The building has lived many lives: it was once a wheat mill, later the central station of the National Electric Railway of Los Altos, and, more recently, the feared “General Manuel Lisandro Barillas” Military Brigade and Military Zone 17-15, where crimes and human rights violations took place.
From this painful history, a new project has been born: La Sona Encendida. The name reclaims the word zona—once linked to military control—and gives it new meaning, transforming the space into a place of dignity, community, and renewal. Today, it stands as a meeting point for historical memory and contemporary art in Quetzaltenango.
At the heart of the project are artists and cultural professionals who are bringing new life to the Intercultural Park through artistic residencies and cultural exchange. Their work promotes creativity, science, technology, and above all, collective dialogue.
Over the past months, Sona Encendida has focused on turning this space into a living site of Memory, open to everyone.
Visitors can now explore three stations:
- The Detention Cell – a space that recalls the experiences of those who were imprisoned.
- The Officers’ Quarters – where Emma Molina Theissen was once held.
- El Polvorín – home to a memorial dedicated to more than 50 professors and students from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala’s Western University Center (CUNOC-USAC) who were kidnapped and executed during the 1980s.
This project is more than a museum—it is a space to remember, to reflect, and to imagine new futures through art and collective memory.