In this nine-panel arpillera, arpilleristas from a FASIC (Fundación de Ayuda Social de las Iglesias Cristianas) workshop give us a startling insight into the harsh reality of life during the Pinochet dictatorship. Through these “windows” they depict their experiences of a community exposing, denouncing and resisting the violence and multiple hardships they are forced to endure. By stitching their stories they ensure that this violent, repressive period of Chilean history will not be forgotten. In the words of Isabel Allende:
“The arpilleras are story tellers, for it is through them that these women have recorded and preserved the memory of a period of Chilean history that many others have chosen to forget.”
("Preface," in M. Agosín, Tapestries of Hope, Threads of Love: The Arpillera Movement in Chile, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, pages IX & X).
It was given to Roberta Bacic as a personal gift in 2011 in acknowledgement of her work curating two exhibitions commissioned by the World Council of Churches (WCC) as part of their International Ecumenical Peace Convocation to mark the end of the Decade to Overcome Violence (2001 - 2011): Stitching Peace: An exhibition of Arpilleras and Quilts (Geneva, 2011) and Stitching Peace: An exhibition of Arpilleras and Quilts (Jamaica, 2011).
Roberta subsequently added it to the Conflict Textiles collection. |