During the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, many Chilean women created complex tapestries depicting the harsh conditions of life and the pain resulting from the disappeared victims of Pinochet’s repression. These tapestries, known as arpilleras, get their name from the Spanish word for the burlap backing they used. However, through their art they came to represent much more in the history of modern Chile.
Arpilleras came to symbolize women’s protest against the brutal Pinochet dictatorship. Although these women worked quietly and used a traditionally feminine method, their arpilleras had wide influence within Chile and internationally. The tapestries and the art of making them preserved the memory of los desaparecidos (the disappeared people) and the dictatorship’s brutality, as well as the unemployment, food shortages, housing shortages, and other hardships of daily life which were attributed to Pinochet’s rule. Simply preserving this collective memory was itself an act of protest, but creating the arpilleras also empowered the women in other ways. Many women experienced cognitive liberation through their work in the arpillera workshops, and became involved in other protests against Pinochet’s regime. They also began to confront machismo in their own homes and in society in general by claiming a wider role for women.[...]
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