| Description: | Returning to issues of poverty, this arpillera, a replica of the 1985 original made in a Mujeres Creativas workshop, illustrates the Spanish saying: "Los precios están por los nubes", literally meaning "the prices are in the clouds", or "prices are sky high".
In its colourful depiction of economic woe, we see queues of women, with angry, frustrated expressions, waiting for their ticket at the shops and holding empty bags. Those who get a turn at shopping buy only meagre amounts, as illustrated by the small bags that do not bulge with purchases.
In the skies above, we see the basic commodities of flour, sugar, rice, corn and oil, the prices of which are out of reach for these women. As always, it is the poor who endure the consequences of state policies, actions and inactions regarding development and poverty.
Living standards for Peruvian people, as depicted in this arpillera, were extremely difficult in the late 1980s due to an unmanageable foreign debt and high inflation. The economic policies of successive government administrations under Belaunde, Garcia and Fujimori did nothing to improve distribution of wealth for the poor. The war between the government and two insurgent groups, (Shining Path in rural areas and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in Lima) in addition to a series of natural disasters and a drop in the world price of Peru's major export commodities created a severe economic crisis. Inflation for consumer products increased by 52% from 1981 to 1983, further worsening the already difficult lives of those experiencing the daily grind of poverty.
|
