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'Ayuno/Fasting', by María López (Photo: Martin Melaugh)

During the Pinochet dictatorship, group fasting, supported by church movements, was used as a strategic community action. Its purpose was to highlight the human rights violations of the regime, build community and prompt discourse and action at local, national and international level.

Here we see three people, stretched on camp beds during their fasting period, in the “capilla” (community chapel) in the very heart of a bustling neighbourhood. A calm, unhurried atmosphere pervades this arpillera. Perhaps this is indicative of the state of clarity and focus achieved by the three individuals fasting. It appears that passers by regard this action as part of their everyday lives.

Hunger strikes organised by the Association of the Detained and Disappeared became strategic acts of civil disobedience during the dictatorship. People participated in these actions in order to denounce the disappearance of their loved ones.

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