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'Violencia en Ayacucho / Violence in Ayacucho', by FCH Mujeres Creativas workshop. (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

This piece, a replica of the 1985 original arpillera, was made by the Mujeres Creativas workshop in Lima. It takes its inspiration from a child’s drawing, portraying his memories of the military arriving in the city of Ayacucho in south-central Peru. His mother, through the Mujeres Creativas workshop, created this arpillera depicting the harshness, violence and repression of this era.

Over 600,000 people were displaced within Peru during the 1980s and 1990s as a result of an armed conflict between the government, self defence groups and insurgent forces of the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Resistance Movement. In 1980, the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) used Ayachucho as its base for its campaign against the Peruvian government. White, G.D., (2009) “Displacement, decentralization and reparation in post-conflict Peru” in "FORCED MIGRATION review 33"

The Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimates that over 69,000 died as a result of this violent conflict, with more than 40 percent of the reported deaths and disappearances concentrated in the Ayacucho department. Truth and Reconciliation Commission / Final Report / Conclusions (2003)

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