Arpilleristas: The Sewing Rebels of Chile
In 1973,
Chile saw the end of democracy. Terror reigned with the country under military
rule for 17 years. Anyone who opposed this rule was arrested, tortured and
often killed. In the midst of this brutality, a group of impoverished women
sought to inform the world of the human rights violations occurring. This is
the incredible story of how sewing acted as a source of resistance.
Augusto Pinochet
was born on the 25th of November 1915 in Valparaíso, Chile. He aspired to enter the army and was accepted into
the War Academy in Santiago in 1933. During his time in the army Chile was never
at war, instead, Pinochet was appointed as Commander for one of the concentration
camps imprisoning Communists in Chile. In 1970 a committed socialist, Salvador
Allende came to power after three failed presidential bids. At this time, Latin
America was in the middle of a “red scare” because, the Communist, Fidel Castro
had come to power in Cuba. The USA was worried about Allende, a Marxist, coming
to power in Chile so the CIA help to stage a coup to remove Allende from power.
The coup was a failure and as an effect, Allende gained the support of the public
and the army. In 1971, Pinochet was placed in charge of the Santiago Garrison
and in 1973, he was appointed Commander-In-Chief of the army. This was just 18
days before the military coup.
On the 11th
of September 1973, the citizens of Santiago were awoken by bomb blasts and
smoke. Across the capital, Chile’s military jets were bombing La Moneda, the presidential
residence. Allende’s allies resisted for hours before Allende eventually shot
himself. The coup was a success. A four-man military junta was established, led
by Pinochet, to govern the country. The army rounded up thousands of leftists, protestors,
artists and intellectuals and marched them to concentration camps and stadiums
where they were tortured and executed. Chile entered into a dictatorship in
1974 when Pinochet declared himself “Supreme Chief of the Nation” and gave
himself 8-year terms as President. Oppression reigned. Political parties were
banned, leftist media was abolished and censorship was put in place. Thousands
of people were tortured, killed or forcibly disappeared. These people became
known as desaparecidos. Many were held in the National Stadium where they were
tortured and then executed. La Caravana de la Muerte (The Caravan of Death) was
a military operation thought to have killed 97 people between the 30th
of September and the 22nd of October 1973. In the Atacama Desert, leftists
were worked to death or executed in camps. In the capital, Villa Grimaldi was
taken over by the DINA (the secret police) and became an interrogation centre
where prisoners were experimented on and tortured. In November 1975, the DINA
made contact with the dictators of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and, later, Argentina
to come up with Operation Condor, a scheme which aimed to assassinate every
leftist on the continent.
During Pinochet’s
dictatorship the “Miracle of Chile” occurred with the economy growing rapidly
between 1976 and 1981. However, poverty was still a huge problem, many Chileans
were impoverished and suffered from food shortages. In 1975, the unemployment rate
was 18.7% and by 1987, 45% of the population lived below the poverty line.
Women in poor and working-class households were especially affected by Pinochet’s
regime. Chilean women were expected to be silent in political matters and were expected
to be good mothers and wives. Many poor and working-class women were left
without a source of income due to the widespread unemployment and the forced
disappearances of their husbands and children. As a result of this poverty they
had to seek work outside the home for the first time. The Chilean Catholic
Church set up workshops where women could create and sell arpilleras. “Arpillera”
means burlap/ hessian in Spanish and the women who make them are called “arpilleristas.”
Arpilleras are brightly coloured patchwork pictures. In Santiago during
Pinochet’s regime, the arpilleras were used as a form of passive resistance and
were a source of much needed income. They also served to inform people of the
human rights violations that occurred daily and the arpilleristas created a
community to support each other. The arpilleristas used the cheapest materials
they could find, they used flour and wheat sacks and scraps of old clothing for
colour. Often the arpilleras were brought to life with 3D sewn people wearing outfits
made from scraps of the clothing of disappeared loved ones. These personal
touches created a heartfelt story of loss. The arpilleras were distributed
through the church’s human rights group Vicaría de la Solidaridad (Vicariate of
Solidarity) and soon gained the interest and attention of many people in other
countries. However, it also brought the arpilleristas to the Chilean government’s
attention and they started a silencing campaign to stop the spread of
information. Most arpilleristas made them anonymously to try to avoid arrest
and if they were ever stopped or their houses were searched, they had the
arpilleras hidden inside the lining of their bedspreads, skirts and coats. The
government sought to punish those who made and supported the making of arpilleras,
they did this through arrests, interrogations, home visits and more forcible disappearances.
However, the women did not stop.
The arpilleristas
attended and ran protests. They chained themselves to the Supreme Court, torture
centres and hospitals. They marched down streets holding pictures and banners
with the names and pictures of their desaparecidos to make sure they would
never be forgotten. They created arpilleras depicting these protests and stitched
the names of the desaparecidos to show and tell the world. The arpilleras
depict many scenes showing what life in Chile was like under Pinochet’s regime.
A symbol that became a powerful piece of resistance was the question mark. Arpilleras
showed a family eating a meal at the table with a seat empty of any missing
person and instead occupied by a question mark. This symbolised all the desaparecidos
who had been forcibly disappeared and the impact this had on the family left
behind. It also asks the question everyone had: ¿Donde estan? Where are the desaparecidos? Other arpilleras emphasised the
harsh military rule with scenes showing helicopters dropping people into the
ocean, protestors rallying outside a carcel (jail) and soldiers patrolling the
streets and villages. Some arpilleras showed the sheer number of people that
were arrested through images of many heads, the arpilleras then focus in on individual
desaparecidos’ names to show that the fight was widespread and personal. A
piece entitled “Women demand justice!” shows a group of female protestors
holding a banner saying “JUSTICIA” (justice) whilst a tank shot at them. Another
protest piece is set in a rural area and shows women holding a sign saying “DONDE
ESTAN” (where are they?). The arpilleristas emphasised that the citizens were
not a threat by juxtaposing the frightening, armed soldiers dressed in dark
colours with the brightly dressed women and children.
In 1988, Chile held its “si o no” (yes or no)
vote to determine if Pinochet should stay in power for another 8 years. On the
5th of October 1988 it was revealed that 44% of the country voted si
and 56% voted no. Pinochet declared he would never stand down but his generals
knew that the US was applying pressure for him to honour the vote or he would
face international consequences. Pinochet announced he would step down in two
years. In 1989 the centre left candidate, Patricio Aylwin, won and was inaugurated
on March the 11th 1990. Democracy returned to Chile. Pinochet remained
head of the armed forces until 1998 and then was given the position of Senator
for life, as well as lifetime immunity. On the 17th of October 1998,
Pinochet visited London for surgery. A week earlier, an international arrest
warrant had been issued by a Spanish judge because several Spanish citizens had
been killed during his regime. He was arrested in the hospital. The then British
Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and other British MPs argued that he wasn’t
fit to stand trial, so, on the 3rd of March 2000 he was allowed to fly
back to Chile where upon landing, he stood up out of his wheelchair
triumphantly and waved to the crowd. Chilean lawmakers started to reassess his
lifetime immunity and in 2004 a state commission of crimes on the dictatorship
reported that over 35,000 people had been tortured and over 3,000 murdered. His
lifetime immunity was lifted. In 2005, Pinochet was placed under house arrest
and in 2006 he was formally charged with kidnapping, torture and murder.
Pinochet died of a heart attack on the 10th of December 2006, just
days after he was declared fit to stand trial.
Today, Chile
is still recovering from the dictatorship. Amnesty International reports that over
40,000 people were illegally detained or tortured, over 3,000 more were killed
or forcibly disappeared and over 30,000 people fled the country. 1,300 former
officers and soldiers have been tried for crimes against humanity. After 1993,
arpillera workshops were set up as income-generating schemes for the impoverished.
Many original arpilleristas continued the creation of their political
arpilleras, and continued to stitch their stories of heartbreak and loss. Many
arpilleristas never found out what became of their desaparecidos. By taking up
their needles, they ensured that their stories were told and their loved ones would
never be forgotten.
A very interesting read. It is incredible how women have found so many different ways to express themselves over the centuries.
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