| Description: | This arpillera, a replica of the original circa 1985 piece by FCH, was made by the Mujeres Creativas workshop in Lima. This group supports women who have been displaced as a result of the war in Peru. The image of untidy industriousness depicts a world of creativity that provides a shelter from the chaos of war for the women involved. In the tumultuous world they have inhabited, the routine, the camaraderie and the sense of ownership of the workshop, allows these women a route to a kind of peace.
At present, many of the women who participated in this workshop over the years are elderly and can not make a living from their work. As the state has not provided reparations and minimal health care for their war affected and poor people, it is through Movimiento Manuela Ramos and the generosity of German Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and churches that they get their basic needs met.
The process of depicting women's stories through arpilleras has taken place far beyond Chile. In 2009, Breege Doherty, inspired by an arpillera exhibition in Donegal, Ireland, invited Roberta Bacic, to introduce the process to a group of women participating in a women's cross-border/cross-community project. The hands on nature of the workshop allowed women to learn about the experience of trauma and conflict of another culture, whilst tentatively exploring its connection to their own experience, living in a post conflict society - all through the medium of cutting, stitching and conversing.
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