Friday, 29 March 2024

Textile Details

'No contaminar / Do not pollute', Anonymous, Vicaría de la Solidaridad workshop. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)
'No contaminar / Do not pollute', Anonymous, Vicaría de la Solidaridad workshop. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

 

Title of Textile:No contaminar / Do not pollute
Maker: Anonymous, Vicaría de la Solidaridad workshop
Country of Origin: Chile
Year Produced: 1983c
Size (cm): 65cm (w) x 62cm (l)
Materials: Scraps of material hand sewn onto burlap
Type of Textile: Arpillera
Description:

The effects of pollution on the inhabitants of a shantytown in the suburbs of Santiago is depicted in this arpillera, made in one of the Vicaría de la Solidaridad workshops. We see people, under a darkened sky, going about their daily activities, choking on the smog and car fumes. Clearly they are frustrated by this. The cars speed by, oblivious to their impact on the shantytown dwellers and the environment. People have gathered in the street to protest. With their banner that says "Do Not Pollute", they are demanding change.

Clearly, in this arpillera, it is the poor who bear the brunt of pollution and who stand to be most severely impacted by it, whilst being largely excluded from political decision-making. The government at this time viewed environmental protection as detrimental to economic growth.

Santiago's air pollution, primarily from heavy industry and also from a rapidly increasing population, represents a huge challenge for the authorities responsible for reducing the damage caused during the years of environmental negligence. Air pollution levels in Santiago have had significant effects on human health, including premature death and respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma.

Owner: Ulster Museum collection
Location: Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Original / Replica: Original
Photographer: Martin Melaugh
Provenance: Acquired from Conflict Textiles collection (2022). Provenance Kinderhilfe arpillera collection, Chile/Bonn.



Textile exhibited at: 'Arpilleras Aus Chile' -Eine Retrospektive, 6/05/2010 - 28/05/2010
The Politics of the Mundane in Chilean and Other Arpilleras, 27/08/2010 - 29/08/2010
Chilean Arpilleras of Yesterday and Today: Textile Ambassadors, 16/09/2010 - 16/09/2010
Stitching Peace: An exhibition of Arpilleras and Quilts, 16/02/2011 - 18/03/2011
Stitching Peace: An exhibition of arpilleras and quilts, 17/05/2011 - 25/05/2011
Transforming threads of resistance, 27/02/2012 - 9/03/2012
Arpilleras y cotidianeidad femenina, 5/10/2013 - 7/11/2013
Mujeres que Hilvanan Días / Women that Sew Days Together, 5/03/2015 - 10/04/2015
Arpilleras de América Latina: Mujeres cosedoras de vida , 19/03/2016 - 24/04/2016
LA VIDA QUE SE TEJE Tejidos de América Latina por la memoria y la vida, 11/05/2016 - 10/07/2016
Textile Language of Conflicts, 6/11/2017 - 10/11/2017
Latin American Myth Deconstruction, 15/06/2018 - 18/06/2018
Neo Norte, 9/08/2018 - 2/09/2018
Conflict Textiles workshops, 9/01/2019 - 29/01/2019
Conflict, Peace: Our journey, our future, 14/09/2020 - 31/10/2020
International Human Rights Day 2022: Embracing Human Rights, 9/12/2022 - 9/12/2022



Textile Detail Image(s)