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'Irene, Marta, Hilda, Patricia: Ahora y Siempre Presentes / Irene, Marta, Hilda, Patricia: Now and Always Present', Students from Escuela de Cerámica. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

In March 1976 a military junta led by Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla seized power in Argentina and under the guise of the National Reorganization Process initiated a seven year period of military dictatorship characterised by human rights violations, forced disappearances and illegal arrests.

By May 1977 four young female students, one of whom was pregnant, attending the Pottery College/Escuela de Cerámica, had disappeared without trace: Marta Virginia Esain, Patricia Virginia Villa, Hilda Adriana Fernandez and Irene Monica Bruschtein. These women, aged 21-25, active in the socialist movement, were all taken from different places. Irene was kidnapped from her home in front of her two children.

Almost 40 years later the college remembers these young women through this arpillera created by present day students as part of a human rights module. The process involved a visit to “Parque de la Memoria” linked in to the programme of activities of the exhibition RETAZOS TESTIMONIALES: arpilleras de Chile y otras latitudes/TESTIMONIAL SCRAPS: arpilleras from Chile and other parts of the world. This arpillera was created by the students following their visit.

The title phrase "Ahora y siempre presentes/Now and Always Present” is testimony to the enduring legacy and presence of these young disappeared women and the reality that we have to deal with our past.

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