Wednesday, 9 October 2024

Textile Details

'Represión a vendedores ambulantes / Repression of street vendors', Anonymous. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)
'Represión a vendedores ambulantes / Repression of street vendors', Anonymous. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

 

Title of Textile:Represión a vendedores ambulantes / Repression of street vendors
Maker: Anonymous
Country of Origin: Chile
Year Produced: 1985c
Size (cm): 50cm x 40cm
Materials: Scraps of material hand sewn onto burlap
Type of Textile: Arpillera
Description:

This arpillera captures the constant oppression which poor people endured on a daily basis. Against the backdrop of apartment blocks, we see street vendors being forced off the streets as the state wants to get rid of them. These apolitical vendors are simply trying to make ends meet.

In the face of the large, hulk shaped, black water cannon, forcefully pumping powerful jets of water, made of tacked white thread, the vendors have no option but to flee. Clutching their newspapers and plastic bags containing their wares they run, attempting to shield themselves and their goods from injury and destruction. The featureless water cannon is depicted as ominous and intimidating. It conveys the faceless brutality of the authorities, unleashed against the harmless, unthreatening street vendors.

Owner: Oshima Hakko Museum collection, Japan
Location: Oshima Hakko Museum
Original / Replica: Original
Photographer: Martin Melaugh
Provenance: Donation from Conflict Textiles collection. Provenance Kinderhilfe arpillera collection, Chile/Bonn (2009) (HM0724)





Textile Detail Image(s)