| Description: | This arpillera was born out of the history and individual stories of babies who were snatched from their families over a number of years, whose voices continue to resound through Spanish society today. Our group of arpilleristas makers were familiar with the “stolen babies” through news bulletins, documentaries, television and radio, but by going deeper into the stories, each one of us has been “touched” by history. (12th July 2019) "Spain's 'stolen baby' finds out she was adopted", BBC News
From the post Civil War period (1939) to the 1990s, babies were sold on to families of the Francoist regime or to wealthy women through a number of hospitals, health administrations and businesses, while the biological mothers were told that their children had been stillborn. It seems incredible that this practice dragged on for decades without coming to light until many years later. (29th June 2020), TheJournal.ie
In this arpillera we wished to reflect the desperation felt by the loved ones who searched without finding any answers; the struggle and the coming together of families of the disappeared, the hunger to reunite with their lost children and expose the perpetrators. (28th March 2012), TheGuardian
A further aim in producing this arpillera is to demonstrate how the powers of the State sanctioned these kidnappings: hospitals, churches, judges, public administration were all complicit. But above all we wish to bear witness to the spirit of the struggle, to the denouncement and the resilience of the families. |
