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In Chile, women use traditional embroidery to urge political change
Cecilia Nowell
March 14, 2020
When high school students in Santiago, Chile, took to the streets in Oct. 2019 to protest an increase in subway fares, Chileans saw an opportunity to denounce systems in place since the country's 1973-1990 dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet.
Still in the streets four months later, protesters called for economic reform and a new constitution to replace the 1980 constitution written at the height of General Pinochet's rule.
As Chileans have called for change by marching in the millions and petitioning their representatives, many women have turned to a form of artistic protest dating back to the dictatorship era: the arpillera — scenes of tragedy or protest embroidered onto scraps of burlap.
As relatives disappeared or were killed during the dictatorship, Chilean women embroidered scenes of disappearances into detention centers or families protesting for truth and justice, usually under the protection of the Catholic Church, in each others' homes or workshops.
. . .
More:
https://theweek.com/articles/898051/chile-women-use-traditional-embroidery-urge-political-change
Bleeding eyes.
Images from Chilean arpilleras, at google images:
https://tinyurl.com/sp5z5ol