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'No al plebiscito, No podemos ni opinar/ No to the plebiscite, we are not allowed our opinion', Anonymous. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

This arpillera was acquired by curator Roberta Bacic in Germany, 2009, from a retired crafts teacher who had received it is as a present 27 years earlier. For Roberta this arpillera is unique: "It is a very striking image that recalls a political momentum which I have not seen recorded before in the arpilleras literature."

In 1973, when the military dictatorship, headed by General Pinochet, deposed the democratically elected President, Salvador Allende, Chile was ushered into a state of emergency. In 1980, General Pinochet ordered a new Constitution which was to be ratified by a referendum, known as the National Plebiscite. Government propaganda urged that a yes vote would bring about full democracy. While many people were not fooled by this propaganda, a significant number of influential people often argued that having a constitution was preferable to continuing under the state of emergency, which had already lasted seven years.

The scene in the arpillera vividly describes what happened to people who opposed the plebiscite. They were confronted with violence by the police, arrested and cruelly beaten. Nonetheless, almost a third of the Chilean electorate still voted NO in this referendum held on 11 September, 1980. Although defeated, grassroots people continued to publicly oppose the repressive regime. Facing great personal risk, they persevered in their collective struggle for democracy, a struggle which bore fruit in 1989, when General Pinochet renounced office, marking the end of his 16½ year military rule.

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