| Description: | Here Aurora merges the traditional ‘Cueca’, the celebratory national dance of Chile, with ‘la Cueca Sola’, a version of the Cueca danced in protest to denounce those disappeared by the Pinochet dictatorship (1973 - 1990).
The traditional Cueca is a colourful, vibrant, courtship dance, with influences from indigenous cultures and the Spanish colonial era. It is danced in Spring, a time of energy and growth, and on Independence day on 18th September, marking the day when Chileans declared independence from Spain in 1810. Almost 170 years later, on 18th September 1979, ‘Cueca’, which had been appropriated by the Pinochet dictatorship, was declared the national dance by military decree. (Ministerio Secretaría General de Gobierno (06 de noviembre de 1979), Decreto 23: Declara a la cueca danza nacional de Chile, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile)
Using every means possible to highlight and contest the detentions, enforced disappearances and executions perpetrated by the Pinochet dictatorship, women reclaimed and subverted the national dance. With sombre expression, they danced it alone, in austere black and white, denouncing the disappearances. ‘La Cueca’ became ‘La Cueca Sola’. This simple, courageous act of defiance inspired and caught the attention of people beyond Chile, including musician Sting who recorded the song ‘They dance alone’. ‘La Cueca Sola’ is the theme of many arpilleras, twelve of which are documented within the Conflict Textiles collection.
In January 2022, through discussions connected with the Inclusive Global Histories exhibition which includes La cueca sola / Dancing cueca alone , it became clear to Conflict Textiles curator Roberta Bacic that ‘La Cueca Sola’ had come to be regarded as the national dance of Chile. This prompted reflection and a conversation with Chilean arpillerista Aurora Ortiz. Aurora, whose four versions of ‘La Cueca Sola’ are documented within Conflict Textiles collection, immersed herself in creating this new composite arpillera. The completed piece, dispatched from Población La Victoria, Santiago de Chile arrived two weeks later to Roberta Bacic in Benone, on the Northern coast of Northern Ireland, home of the Conflict Textiles collection.
On the left, we see the colour and sense the energetic movement of the traditional Cueca, danced in joyful celebration and framed with festival bunting. On the right, we are drawn to the woman with her head bent, devoid of colour, paused in her Cueca Sola dance, mourning her disappeared. Both aspects of this arpillera, both depictions of the dance, have now become synonymous with the Cueca story, and we are reminded that ‘La Cueca Sola’ emerged from the traditional ‘Cueca’ as a creative, defiant form of protest.
Aurora depicts this woman as if in a dreamlike state. As she emerges from her dream, this woman, who symbolises the many women who contested the dictatorship through dance, urges us to remember the detained, disappeared and executed. She also invites us to rediscover the Cueca chilena, a symbol of identity and unity for present day Chile. |
