In this arpillera, the artist depicts one of the many actions that took place in Santiago, the Chilean capital, during the time of the hunger strike by 34 Mapuche prisoners, imprisoned for defending their land. A large number of Mapuche have been forced to leave their land and live in the capital, generally doing menial jobs. Living without land is in itself a denial of their identity, as Mapuche means People of the Land.
The Mapuche who live in Santiago publicly demand that the rights of their people imprisoned and on hunger strike are respected and upheld. They demand that the anti-terrorist law should not be applied.
We can see that everyday people have joined the non violent action taking place in the centre of the capital. Leading the march are Mapuche women, dressed in their indigenous clothes, and men wearing ponchos, carrying their flag. The police have violently disrupted the march. They are dragging one of the Mapuche women by her hair and are also taking away their flag. Some men are also being dragged away and two police cars, guarded by armed police, are ominously visible in the background.
There is no sun in the sky but it is in the flag itself. Aurora, the artist, is one of the participants in this action.
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