From Healing to Hope: The Continuing Influence of the Chilean Arpilleras

Abstract

Since the 1970s, instances of widespread societal terror and extermination have proliferated. The source of such conflicts may involve entities outside of a country but, often, the parties involved in the conflict are states and their citizens. These types of social injustices and human rights atrocities tear apart the very fabric of a society, often resulting from internal wars which pit people who previously lived side-by-side against one another. A constant in these conflicts is the silencing of communication on many levels which creates an opening for multiple forms of art to function as communicative media, visual testimony, and human rights violations documentation. This paper studies the processes though which oppressed people are able to create and export visual testimonial art and the conditions that may increase the likelihood of success. The 40-year history of Chilean arpilleras, commonly referred to as political quilts, is used as a case study to identify five phases of the arpilleras which directly correlate to the creators’ lived experience: trauma, survival, healing and recovering, and remembering. The role of oppressors (the Chilean military) and supporters (those who created protected spaces and facilitated movement of the arpilleras) is analyzed in two ways: through their familiar form, which gave the impression that the arpilleras were a safe women’s craft; and through their distinctive features, which created openings for the arpilleras to communicate in an international court of public opinion what the oppressors sought to silence. The fifth phase of the arpilleras, continuing circulation, provides an opportunity to examine how the arpilleras are used as models for subversive communication and in healing and reconciliation efforts. This close examination of the Chilean arpilleras as visual testimony and communicative art illustrates their contributions to social justice and peace.