Event Details
Conflict Textiles curator Roberta Bacic with Oshima Hakko museum team who organised "Never Forget September 11, 1973" event programme. (Photo: Eva Gonzalez) |
| Exhibition and associated activities: | Never Forget September 11, 1973 |
| Description: | This arpillera exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the military coup in Chile that overthrew the Popular Unity government led by democratically elected President Salvador Allende, replacing it with the repressive Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990).
The arpilleras on display were created by Chilean women as a way to: express their feelings and experiences of life during the dictatorship; record what took place and document the human rights abuses perpetrated under the military regime; show how they lived, survived and resisted and; appeal to people around the world for support. Above all, these arpilleras invite us to listen to the voices of the Chilean people and reflect on their history.
Twenty arpilleras within the exhibition are from the Oshima Hakko Museum collection. The arpillera, ¡Adiós Pinochet! / Good bye Pinochet!, from Conflict Textiles collection, reflects the ongoing collaboration with Conflict Textiles developed over a 10 year period , beginning with a visit by Conflict Textiles curator Roberta Bacic (February 2013) to assist in the documentation of a set of 88 Chilean arpilleras followed by the exhibition Meeting Chilean Arpilleras (May 2013).
An Arpilleras Symposium titled “Lectures and Songs to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Chilean Coup” takes place on September 10, 2023
Venue: Sun-Hall Matsushiro 163-9 Matsushiro, Matsushiro Town, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
Lectures/presentations: Roberta Bacic (Chilean collector and curator of Conflict Textiles), Tomoko Sakai (Kyoto University Associate Professor), Chihiro Ito (Journalist)
Piano performance: Eri Takematsu
Weblinks:
See Oshima Hakko Museum Blog for regular updates.
Oshima Hakko Museum: Never Forget September 11, 1973
Oshima Hakko Museum brochure: cover page and Roberta Bacic's presentation (The full brochure is available for purchase from Oshima Hakko Museum. Email: oshimatomomit@gmail.com).
International Network of Museums for Peace Newsletter Issue #39 (available in English, español and Japanese) features Conflict Textiles collection and an overview of the exhibition. |
| Commissioned by: | Oshima Hakko Museum |
| Date(s): | 3rd May 2023 - 28th December 2023 |
| Venue: | Oshima Hakko Museum, Japan
2567-1 Kiyono, Matsushiro Town, Nagano City, Nagano 381-1233, Japan |
| Curator: | Tomomitsu Oshima and Sonoko Kobayashi |
| Facilitator: | Oshima Hakko Museum |
| Outcome: | The exhibition "Never Forget September 11, 1973", and the associated symposium "Lectures
and Songs to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Chilean Coup" held in the Sun Hall
Matsushiro (Nagano City), was widely attended by a range of people from both Nagano
Prefecture and further afield. Around 1290 visitors came to the exhibition and 120 to the
lectures, with many leaving comments on the "colourful patchwork that tells the story of the
coup", how surprised they were by the "spread of Arpilleras in the world" and the
"persistent struggle for democracy".
The two textiles on display (¡Adiós Pinochet! / Good bye Pinochet! and 11th September,
1973, Santiago de Chile) joined the many arpilleras already on display in the Oshima Hakko
Museum and were warmly received. Presentations were given at the symposium by Roberta
Bacic (The Poetry of Stitching: arpilleras and their transnational voices), Tomoko Sakai
(Historical Experience and Cloth Works: Political Violence, Immigrants/Refugees, and
Pollution), Chihiro Ito (Chile under dictatorship: The power of the people to resist
nonviolently) and Eri Takematsu, who sang 2 solo songs (Gracias a la vida and Declaration)
and 2 with the local choir (Venceremos and Come Together).
The exhibition was sponsored by the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun newspaper company of
Nagano Prefecture and also reported on in 2 local newspapers. The symposium was
recorded for archive and TV, and was promoted in a series of social media posts. The event
has been well received and found to be educational and inspirational. |
| Documents: |
• Textile list, Oshima Hakko Museum Arpilleras - view
• Exhibition poster, Japan, May 2023 - view
• Shinano Mainichi Newspaper article, 12 May 23 - view
• Oshima Hakko Museum newsletter, no. 66 - view
• Exhibition leaflet, Japan, August 2023 - view
• Flyer, 50th anniversary rally, Chilean coup - view
• Presentation, 'Poetry of Stitching', R. Bacic - view
• Presentation notes, R. Bacic, 10 Sept 2023 - view
• Historical Experiences and Textile, T. Sakai - view
• Photo gallery, Japan September 2023 - view
• Oshima Hakko Museum brochure, p1-2 - view
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