Memoria Viva (Living Memory) is a visual and narrative project rooted in the preservation and exploration of personal and collective memory through the lens of my family’s history and heritage in El Salvador. This work emerges from a desire to document, understand, and honor the lived experiences of my parents—their early lives in El Salvador, their migration to the United States, and the cultural legacy they carry with them.

Blending archival photographs, imagery, and recorded stories, Memoria Viva functions as a living archive—one that resists static documentation and instead embraces memory as fluid, emotional, and evolving. The project takes form as a zine and visual journey where design elements guide the reader through fragmented memories, historic references, and intimate moments. Each page becomes a space for reflection, reconnection, and storytelling. Memoria Viva bridges personal history with the broader narrative of Salvadoran culture and migration. Through research, family interviews, and creative experimentation, I aim to center the voices and personal stories that often go unrecorded—reclaiming stories that deserve to be remembered, reimagined, and shared.