| Description: | When Gala Torres’ brother Ruperto Torres Aravena was detained and disappeared in October 1973, she, like countless Chilean women, immersed herself in the struggle for truth and justice for the disappeared and their relatives. She became an active member of the Chilean Association of Detained and Disappeared (AFDD) and director of the Folkloric Musical Ensemble of Relatives of the detained-disappeared. This folk group, created by arpilleristas, composed and performed songs about their lives as women alone.
Through their music, these women subverted the colourful, traditional “Cueca” courtship dance with “la Cueca Sola”. In this sombre version, the women dance alone in severe black and white, wearing the image of their "disappeared" loved one over their heart. Their singing becomes an instrument of protest; a way of publicly denouncing the human rights abuses of the Pinochet dictatorship (1973 - 1990). This courageous act of defiance caught the attention of people beyond Chile, including musician Sting who recorded the song "They dance alone" (1987).
“La Cueca Sola” has inspired many different interpretations in textile. Currently there are 12 documented within Conflict Textiles collection. This, the second version created by Gala Torres, is part of the Oshima Hakko collection in Japan. Through her protest music, defiant dance and arpilleras stitched from scraps of fabric, Gala Torres has ensured that the search for truth and justice continues for the 1,469 people killed or disappeared by the dictatorship, who are still missing. Observatorio de Justicia Transicional, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile (2023)
Gala Torres dancing the Cueca Sola with the Folkloric Ensemble of the Association of Relatives of Detained - Disappeared, in the National Stadium, Santiago, Chile, 12 March 1990 |
