This is a traditional arpillera against the backdrop of the Andes Mountains of Chile. The dark background colour and the moon and stars signify that this is a night scene and we can guess that the area is probably under curfew. An injured person lying in a pool of blood is being ignored by the police who are walking away. It is not clear from the scene presented who is responsible for the wounded person, though we certainly see that the police are not fulfilling their duty of care.
Knowing that this arpillera is from the first decade of the repressive Pinochet dictatorship, we are left to ponder if it is the heavy handed actions of the police that have resulted in this person’s injuries. We see the people from the neighbourhood busy assisting the injured person.
Overall, this arpillera chillingly portrays the hardship and repression experienced by the people in this impoverished community. From the sewing and crochet borders, we recognize that the arpillerista is not a skilled sewer.
Nonetheless her piece is powerful in that it bears witness to and publicly denounces yet another violent incident of the Pinochet regime. In highlighting it she ensures that the world is made aware of what was happening on a daily basis in Chile.
Jacquie Monty bought this arpillera, and several others, in the early 1980s whilst working for Oxfam on an exhibition focused on El Salvador and Chile. She donated it and two others (¿Dónde están nuestros hijos? / Where are our children?; Panfleteando en el 1979 en Santiago / Leafleting in Santiago in 1979;) to Conflict Textiles curator Roberta Bacic after meeting her at the exhibition The politics of Chilean Arpilleras organised by the Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS), University of Cambridge (2008).
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