Kena Lorenzini


María Eugenia Lorenzini Lorenzini, 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. She completed secondary school at the Liceo Blanco Encalada in Talca in 1976. 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.

Career

Lorenzini made her debut as a self-taught photographer in 1980. Since then, her work has been published in periodicals such as the magazines ', ', and Pluma y Pincel, and the newspaper La Nación. 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. Much of her photography has been devoted to documenting social protests.
In 2010, she won the Altazor Award for National Arts in the photography category for Visible/Invisible, her exhibition with Helen Hughes and.

Exhibitions

Lorenzini has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, including CowParade Santiago, Chile, geografía de niños, Visible/Invisible at La Moneda Palace, Historia de Chile a través de la fotografía at the National Museum of Fine Arts, and Fragmentos/Memorias/Imágenes a 40 años del golpe at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.

Politics

In the 2017 general election, Lorenzini stood as a Broad Front candidate for senator, receiving 4,836 votes. She is a member of Democratic Revolution and publicly advocates for women's rights, same-sex marriage, and LGBT rights.

Personal life

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

Works