Thursday, 28 March 2024

Textile Details

'Somos Mujeres cesantes / We are unemployed women', Anonymous. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)
'Somos Mujeres cesantes / We are unemployed women', Anonymous. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

 

Title of Textile:Somos Mujeres cesantes / We are unemployed women
Maker: Anonymous
Country of Origin: Chile
Year Produced: 1980c
Size (cm): 47cm x 37cm
Materials: Scraps of material hand sewn onto burlap
Type of Textile: Arpillera
Description:

Here we see women from a poor neighbourhood in Santiago protesting about their lack of employment. For these women, with their men-folk disappeared or imprisoned through the repressive actions of the Pinochet dictatorship, earning money to feed their families was a daily struggle.

“Percale” cotton, probably from old aprons, is used for the trees and flowers. The bright sun and the mountains framed by a crochet border are classical arpillera features. The simple stitches indicate that the arpillerista was not a seamstress but an ordinary woman undergoing difficult times.

Owner: Conflict Textiles collection
Location: Conflict Textiles store
Original / Replica: Original
Photographer: Martin Melaugh
Provenance: Theresa Wolfwood, Victoria, Canada



Textile exhibited at: RETAZOS TESTIMONIALES: arpilleras de Chile y otras latitudes, 28/09/2013 - 10/11/2013
Women 31 , 7/03/2014 - 15/04/2014
COSIENDO PAZ: Conflicto, Arpilleras, Memoria , 26/03/2015 - 30/09/2015
COSIENDO PAZ: Conflicto, Arpilleras, Memoria, 8/10/2015 - 4/04/2016
COSIENDO PAZ: Conflicto, Arpilleras, Memoria , 13/04/2016 - 12/06/2016
Arpilleras Speak Truth, 25/09/2017 - 28/10/2017
Forum de Arpilleras de Cataluña 2018, 27/10/2018 - 27/10/2018
Mujeres Disruptivas / Disruptive Women, 22/01/2019 - 29/03/2019
Mujeres Disruptivas / Disruptive Women, 8/02/2023 - 7/08/2023



Textile Detail Image(s)