After reading and watching the arpilleras of Chile, it is really interesting how a work of art can be so powerful in trying to bring a social change to a country. What is a an Arpillera? It is a form of artistic protest that dated back to the years of Augustin Pinochet, a dictator in Chile who ruled from 1973-1990 after the previous government was taken over. What makes those Arpilleras so powerful is that from the video, they show scenes of events that has happened during Pinochet’s rule and showing the outsiders what life is like in Chile. This also alarmed the United Nations on the human rights being violated.The dictatorship of Pinochet was not so great as many of the women’s family have been either disappeared or killed by the government. I never knew about this type of artistic protest.
According to the article on contemporary use of embroidery as protest art, Arpilleras has resurfaced in attempts to bring positive social change to Chile. In the article, readers are told that In October 2019, high school students took to the streets to protest against subway fare increase. As time went by, protesters also use this as an opportunity to call for an economic reform and for new constitution to replace the 1980 one as that one was written during the Pinochet regime. The Chilean women that have protested became victims of police abuse, much like in other countries such as the U.S. where protesters suffer police violence. The protesters used embroidery to show how they had suffered and , many of them got their eyes injured or lost an eye as a result of the violence. Therefore, a 23 foot long tapestry titled “Embroider you Eyes” was created to show the many eyes injured or lost in the protests and to show what police were doing against protesters.
It is interesting how the effects of the Pinochet regime are still present in modern day Chile as the example of the Constitution is an example of it. The protesters saw this an opportunity to further bring change to their country where there are still many missing family members and the new generation of women are becoming more active.
https://theworld.org/stories/2020-02-21/chile-women-use-traditional-embroidery-urge-political-change
