| Description: | This arpillera made in 1979, in one of the Vicaria de la Solidaridad workshops in Santiago, depicts the despair of a mother whose children are missing. A handwritten note hidden in a small pocket at the back of the arpillera gives us a glimpse of the depth of this mother's grief. Her message, penned from her personal despair, is on behalf of all Chilean women who endured the repression and human rights violations of the Pinochet regime at that time. In this note, the writing is extremely poignant:
"This represents our children ...where they are now.., under the eye of the 'dina' [political secret police]; while we, the mothers, cry to one day hear about them". An anguished mother in pain, Chile, 1979.
In this piece, the mountains and sun, common features in all arpilleras, are missing. Against a bleak background we see a crying mother kneeling with another woman, flanked by two police men. Above, large hands framed in a heart shape are encased by two large interrogating eyes. In the midst of this desolate scene the peace doves seem to be falling to the ground.
Jacquie Monty bought this arpillera, and several others, in the early 1980s whilst working for Oxfam on an exhibition focused on El Salvador and Chile. She donated it and two others (Panfleteando en el 1979 en Santiago / Leafleting in Santiago in 1979; Violencia en las calles de Santiago de Chile durante toque de queda / Violence in the streets of Santiago de Chile during curfew) to Conflict Textiles curator Roberta Bacic after meeting her at the exhibition The politics of Chilean Arpilleras organised by the Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS), University of Cambridge (2008). After carrying out conservation work on the arpillera and restoring the backing to its original colour Roberta discovered the hidden pocket; true to its purpose it eluded easy discovery.
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