Description: | In this arpillera, Norma Torres graphically depicts the bombing of the National Palace, La Moneda, in Santiago Chile, on 11 September 1973. This key event of the US backed military coup left La Moneda, the government headquarters, aflame and deposed the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende, inaugurated in 1970. It paved the way for the installation of the repressive Pinochet dictatorship, which lasted 17 years.
Whilst the background depicts the sun, sky and mountains-classical features of Chilean arpilleras- it is the chilling images of the National Palace aflame, tanks and armed personnel which dominate the foreground. A handwritten note tucked in a little pocket at the back of the arpillera, a common practice in early arpilleras, states: "The bombing of La Moneda shows what happened on 11/9/1973 when the military of Chile bombarded the palace with the fires inside. It's a sad fact that marks our history." |